Blown Away
by Lethal Temptress
Summary: When a new poison strikes Konoha Sakura makes it her personal mission to find a cure. Will she stay on task or will she be blown away by the winds of change? (slow build on the romance)
1. One of Their Own

Reaching for the kunai she kept hanging next to her loofah Sakura slowly pulled back the shower curtain. She kept the water running so whoever was breaking into her apartment wouldn't know she'd already sensed them. Forgoing a towel, for it would inevitably get in the way, she stealth-ed towards the bathroom door. Before she could even reach the knob there came the standard coded emergency knock used by most Konoha ANBU. Still gripping the kunai, just in case, she opened the door without hesitance.

There stood an ANBU nin wearing a jackal mask. " Code crimson. Tsunade-sama demands your presence at the hospital immediately."

"Acknowledged." Sakura responded just before the nin burst into shadows. She set down the kunai in favor for a towel and turned off her shower. It only took her five minutes to dress and armor herself properly before she was leaping across rooftops towards her destination.

Upon her arrival the front desk med nin directed her towards the ICU wing where Tsunade-sama and Shizune-senpai where apparently waiting for her. Anxiety twisted in her gut when she saw two ANBU stationed outside the doors. Recognizing her identity they both nodded for her clearance to enter.

Standing next to a bed ridden nin a haggard looking Shizune and frustrated Tsunade turned at Sakura's entrance.

"Ah, Sakura, come closer. We need your take on something." Shizune indicated the nin she was healing. Tsunade's frown deepened with worry as she made room for her apprentice to observe the comatose patient. Sakura's anxiety ratcheted higher at her silence. Things where never good when Tsunade-sama let Shizune do all the talking.

Looking closely she noted no outer wounds or bandages which meant all the damage was internal. As Sakura summoned her chakra for a closer look Shizune grabbed a nearby chart and began to read off his stats.

"ANBU Male, Age 26, Six foot two, Blood Type AB, no known Kekkei Genkai or genetic flaws. Patient was brought in by teammates Hawk and Jackal at 22 hundred hours with miniscule brain activity. Upon initial inspection by a standard med nin the cause of injury was documented as poison via inhalation. Patient was administered two doses of A16 and put under close watch. At 24 hundred hours patient experienced two consecutive seizures rating a level 8. As preordained by hospital protocol anything over a level 5 requires two senior medics on site. Therefore both Tsunade-sama and I were notified immediately." she finished.

"I sense a very faint concentration of foreign chakra near the mid and lower alveoli in both the right and left lung." Sakura stated, quite puzzled.

"I told you I wasn't imagining it Shizune." Tsunade scolded with arms crossed. "And you thought I was losing my touch." she grumped under her breath.

"I never said such a thing Tsunade-sama! I simply couldn't sense what you where talking about!" Shizune protested even though she _had _given her Hokage some disbelieving looks. But really, who could blame her? Tsunade had been heavily alcohol induced prior to her arrival at the ICU.

"The chakra is mixed with a complex poison and has quickly spread from the alveolar sac to each individual alveoli. When I first examined him there where only minute traces in the lower lobes." Tsunade informed them. "Now it's spread to both mid and lower lobes and seems to be converting at a much higher rate. I have little doubt it will continue until both lungs are completely overtaken by whatever this is. Essentially, once this process has completed, this nin's lungs will be transformed into a biological weapon. Meaning oxygen goes in, poisonous gas comes out." Here Tsunade stopped to duck her head, close her eyes, and pinch the bridge of her nose in dismay.

"...which means...we either end his life _before_ that happens or everyone will be in danger of contamination." Shizune whispered with horrified revelation. "There's no way we can guarantee a total quarantine of a respiratory poison transmuted by gas."

Finally withdrawing her chakra and looking up Sakura witnessed her shishou nodding gravely. "But...wait! Can't we just remove the poison by flushing the entire lung with our chakra?" she suggested.

Shizune looked at Tsunade with momentary hope, which was dashed when she saw her Hokage shake her head.

"Perhaps if we had realized earlier what this was. Now the conversion is occurring at too fast of a rate. By the time we clear one bronchi two more will have already been infected. If we rush to keep up with the poison we risk missing or even chakra burning an area. Not only that, but the foreign chakra is set to defend against anyone else's chakra interference." Tsunade said.

Sakura took one defeated step backwards. "So...what you're saying is...is that there's _nothing_ we can do except prevent an epidemic by ceasing his breathing altogether."

"As Hokage and protector of this village I _must_ do what is best for the people. Unfortunately we are too late to save his life. However his death will not be in vain. I'm ordering as many medical staff members as possible on analytical and research detail. Even Shizune and I will not stop examining every piece of evidence until a cure is found."

Sakura looked from the pale man laying on the bed to her senpai and shishou. When she saw two identical grim but determined expressions she sighed in grief.

"Sakura...I'm sorry. I know you take each loss as personally as we do...but this sacrifice is necessary." Shizune whispered as they both watched Tsunade near the bed.

The Hokage leaned over her loyal soldier, hands glowing with enough chakra to deal a swift and painless death. Out of respect no one acknowledged the choked sob that came from one of the ANBU'S teammates standing guard. They had, without a doubt, heard every word. Sakura turned her back, unable to watch the final blow. She had witnessed so many natural deaths, even caused several of her enemies herself, but taking the life of your own was heartbreakingly rare.

"Thank you. Your sacrifice will be honored. You will never be forgotten." Tsunade said as she wrapped her hand around the nin's neck and severed all brain and body functions. One of their own was dead, but she would make sure there was no rest until the one accountable was brought to justice.

This was the exact moment Sakura swore she would fix this, even if it was the last thing she'd do.


	2. Political Responsibilities

Two weeks had passed since the new poison arrived in Konoha. Since then Sakura had barely left the hospital between lab shifts. Instead she chose to rest in the corner of her office where she'd set up a small bed roll. She'd get visitors occasionally, usually a concerned nurse with some cafeteria food so Sakura wouldn't unintentionally starve. Her grueling hours bent over her research had paid off, though not as much as she would have liked.

Gathering her files Sakura stood for a quick stretch before heading over to Tsunade's office for her 6 o'clock updates. Knocking politely before entering she wasn't surprised to see Shizune and Tsunade already comparing results.

"In both specimen the seizures continue to escalate until the subject experiences major internal hemorrhaging. The blood itself is uncontaminated but if the lung is punctured and the pleural fluid is released into the surrounding organs they become poison producers as well." Shizune was saying.

"And if the blood stream is compromised?" Tsunade asked.

"Anything the contaminated blood feeds will convert. The heart will continue to function at an accelerated rate until it eventually collapses under extreme duress." Shizune answered, looking up to greet Sakura with a thin smile.

Tsunade turned to acknowledge her youngest apprentice with a grim nod. "What did you bring us?"

"Experiment P36 was a failure. As far as we can tell there is no chemical compound, either organic or synthesized, that can halt the duplication process. I've studied the cell growth extensively and it seems the foreign chakra gives the poison an almost sentient property. It chooses weaker structures first for a slow and subtle start. However, as soon as enough tissue has been allied to corrupt healthy tissue the growth rate accelerates exponentially." Sakura concluded.

"The victim first experiences sinus irritation and blurry vision. Then, based on factors such as oxygen levels and heart rate, a wet cough develops as the gas condensates into liquid form. Dizziness and major loss of depth perception occur once the brain functions are targeted. Between 15-30 minutes after contraction the body's natural defenses are fully disarmed. By then at least one third of the lung has been infected." Shizune added. "Loss of breath, dizziness and nausea follow until the victim eventually succumbs to a comatose state." she whispered.

Loss of consciousness...the exact state their ANBU had arrived in. Less than an hour after his run in with the deadly toxin he was dead. Such a precise and fast acting poison could have only been concocted by a master level med nin. Besides Tsunade, Shizune and herself Sakura could only think of a few others with the amount of skill and knowledge it would have taken.

Sasori, Zetsu, Orochimaru, Kabuto...

_I bet it was that psycho Kabuto. He'd probably jerk off to this kind of thing._

Sakura was awoken from her inner musing when a crumpled ball of paper hit her on the forehead.

"A summon. Of course, only if you've finished daydreaming Miss Haruno." came Tsunade's peeved voice.

"Ok ok! I was just compiling a mental list of suspects. There can't be that many med nin who could put together this complex of a poison." Sakura explained.

Tsunade just continued to stare at her apprentice with one eyebrow raised in expectation. Shizune coughed to cover her laugh. The silence became slightly awkward until Sakura broke eye contact to retrieve the ball of paper. Grumbling under her breath about her Shishou's bad mood she smoothed the piece of paper back into it's original shape. She blinked at the signature and crest at the bottom.

"Land of Wind? Why do they need one of our medics?" Sakura asked.

"As I said, it's a summon. I didn't see this until earlier today. Understandably, with all that's been going on, I'm a bit behind on my paperwork." Tsunade admitted.

Shizune coughed again and received a glare from the blonde. Who did Tsunade think she was fooling? Both her apprentices knew she was _always _behind on her paperwork. Usually because she'd passed out half way through from drinking too much sak_é._

Keeping one eye on Shizune, who had turned away to straiten a pile of books, Tsunade continued. "This arrived last week. It seems several of the shinobi of wind have died under an unknown poison. The described symptoms are almost identical to what we've studied here. Unfortunately they do not have as strong of a medic system as we do so I doubt they've figured out that the poison is being spread respiratorily. People are basically dropping dead in the street. The villagers are all panicking and the daimyō has responded by locking himself in his castle. This is an official "aid" summon for one of our top medics. He requested either Shizune or myself, but of course I can not leave the village at such a time and Shizune can not be spared either. However if we do not send someone soon we risk our alliance with the Land of Wind. That's why I'm sending you."

"Me?! I've never been on a solo mission before, are you sure?" Sakura asked with equal amounts of trepidation and pride. Her very first solo mission! Konoha had always invested in the lives of their shinobi by institutionalizing a strong team of four. Only the elite of ANBU and a few Jōnin-by-choice where trusted with solo missions.

"Are you unwilling?"

"NO!"

"Are you so unsure of my teaching? Of your capabilities?"

"O-of course not!"

"And you trust my judgment?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then you'd better start packing girl. It's about time I sent you on such a mission. You can't be the Hokage's apprentice without taking on some political responsibilities. You'll be gone for two weeks and I expect regular reports." Tsunade ordered, before waving her hand in dismissal.

"Understood." Sakura said with a quick bow before making her exit. She'd make her shishou proud.


	3. Gas Mask

"B-b-but! But whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!" Naruto whined as he followed on Sakura's heels.

"Because people are dying Naruto. I have to share my research with them and stop the infections. They are our ally. I'm sure they would do the same for us." Sakura reasoned as she strode towards her dresser, Naruto two steps behind. She picked out three mission appropriate shirts and two extra chest bindings before returning to her bed where her pack was laid out.

"Yeah, but I don't get why you have to go alone. I could come too! Or Kakashi sensei!...Anyone!" Naruto pouted.

"Why would you need to come? You don't have any medical knowledge or healing skills. You'd also be in danger of getting poisoned. Then I'd just have to heal you too." Sakura pointed out as she turned to stare him down with her hands on her hips.

"You shouldn't go alone." Naruto demanded with his, very rare, serious face on.

"Shouldn't or couldn't?" Sakura challenged, just as livid.

They continued their very childish staring match until Naruto crossed his arms and made a loud grumbling noise. "I'd just feel better if you had someone with you. Wind shares a boarder with Rain. Those Akatsuki bastards could get you!"

"And out of the two of us, which one has actually taken down an Akatsuki?"

"That's not fair Sakura-chaaaaaaan!" Naruto drawled right before he flopped dramatically onto her bed.

"What's not fair is how you still don't trust in me. No matter how many times I've proved to you that I can handle my own battles. I don't need a babysitter or bodyguard, understand?" she pressed.

"Ok ok ok! But I'll be pestering Granny everyday for your reports so I know you're ok."

"Don't you dare! If you make a nuisance of yourself more than usual she won't send me on another solo mission ever again!"

"That's the point!" Naruto exclaimed as he laughed and ducked her fist swipe. "And what do you mean 'more than usual' ?" he teased.

Sakura turned away to hide the proud smirk at how he'd dodged her. "I'll be fine Naruto. Stop being such a worry wort. You'll get gray hairs. Then I probably won't be able to tell you and Kakashi sensei apart."

Naruto laughed so hard he rolled off the bed and continued to flail around on her floor. Sakura's smirk grew into a full fledged smile at his antics.

"What a hurtful thing to say! My hair is _distinguished silver_ and I'm obviously much more handsome." came a playfully offended voice.

"OY!"

"Hi sensei." Sakura greeted their team leader who was now lounging in her open window. He looked as if he'd been there all day but she knew he'd only arrived to hear her last comment.

"Yo." he said, giving her his signature eye crease/smile from over his orange icha icha book. "Mission?" he asked.

"Yup. I'll be gone for two whole weeks and I expect Konoha to still be here when I get back so no funny stuff you guys!" she teased.

Naruto leapt up from the floor and trapped Sakura in one of his rib crushing bear hugs. "It'll still be here for you Sakura chan! And we'll be waiting for you too!"

"Unless we're sent on a mission." Kakashi corrected.

"Uh...yeah. There's that." Naruto sheepishly added.

"Don't worry, I'll be in touch with Tsunade sama regularly. I'll be back before you know it." she reassured them.

She hadn't known then how wrong she'd be.

(o)(o)(o)(_Later_)(o)(o)(o)

Sakura observed how the trees began to grow farther and father apart until she had to land and continue her journey on foot. The Land of Wind was nothing like the Land of Fire. Instead of cool, lush forests, Wind was all wide open spaces and scorching sun.

In this domain the mighty wind really did rule all. Several times she'd been literally swept off her feet and thrown back. Because of her petite nature she had to resort to carrying several rocks to weigh herself down a little more.

She'd also not anticipated how _quiet _it would be. With a teammate like Naruto around and a hectic profession Sakura didn't get to experience solitude very often. She found out she was slightly unnerved with the extended silence. She'd even resorted to humming softly just to fill the silence and ease her anxiety. Despite these minor setbacks Sakura was nearing the end of her journey, the outline of the village on the horizon.

At the gate she was greeted by two gas mask wearing ninja who checked her identification before quickly admitting her to the village. They made polite conversation with her as they led her to the daimyō's castle. As they neared the castle the crowd began to thicken and become more unruly. At last they reached the building to find a mob of desperate villagers pounding on the walls and doors, demanding their leader come out and tell them exactly how he was planning on saving them.

With quite a bit of jostling and angry shouting the three nin where able to enter the castle where it was much less crowded. Inside the "safety" of his home the daimyō had apparently ordered everyone, including the staff, to wear a gas mask. Sakura took her's graciously and put it on to humor her hosts even though she knew it would do nothing to protect her. The only thing that had been effective against the poison was an early detection and purging of the lungs before too many cells were infected. Squaring her shoulders Sakura prepared for the worst and followed the nin towards their leader. Hopefully, despite her looks, she would be able to convince the daimyō she knew what she was doing.


	4. Already too Late

"_This_ is the best they could send me?!" The wind daimyō exclaimed. "A little girl with pink hair? I sent for a master medic!"

Sakura grit her teeth. "With all due respect your lordship...Tsunade _shishou_ wouldn't have sent me if she wasn't certain I could help you."

"So you're her younger apprentice are you? We'll just have to see how you do. Let's not waste any time, come see for yourself how my people are dying."

She was taken on a short tour to the infirmary where several victims, both young and old, struggled to breath. A mother cried over the still form of a toddler, stopping only momentarily to cough blood into a crumpled tissue. There weren't enough beds so several people where huddled together on bed rolls or blankets spread across the floor.

The morgue was even worse. All the chilling units where occupied so bodies had to be stacked on gurneys, autopsy tables and even wrapped up in tarps on the floor. Sakura was horrified at how poor the medical care was and how many lives had been lost.

"I must speak with your medical staff immediately. There are several things they can start doing right away which should decrease the number of infections." Sakura said. "Please have them gathered for a meeting and I will share all that I know on the matter."

That was how she found herself at the front of a conference room, lecturing a few dozen amateur medics on how the toxic gas was spread, what the early symptoms entailed, and how they could stop others from being poisoned. She could tell from the questions they asked that these where not skilled healers in the least. Most where her age or younger, with little experience and questionable chakra control. The news that they would have to snuff the lives of their own comrades and the villagers who trusted them was met with anger and refusal."

"We're medic nin! We don't take lives, we save them!" one young man protested.

"And for every life you let linger, hoping to 'cure' them, more people will become infected and die. By stopping the reproduction of the poison in the current victim's lungs you decrease the amount of poisonous gas entering the air supply." Sakura argued.

"You're talking genocide!" another shouted.

"I'm talking survival! Konoha's top medics, including the Hokage herself, have been trying to find an antidote for _weeks _now. The harsh reality is that there isn't one! The only way to stop others from being poisoned is to remove all the carriers so the remaining can survive!"

Angry shouting erupted and Sakura had to be escorted from the room by a team of ANBU. Later that, night in her guest room, she composed a frustrated letter to her shishou. She included an estimated number of dead and how the med nin had reacted to the news that there was no antidote, only the unsavory method of prevention via a mass purge of the sickly. Sakura wasn't untouched at how gruesome the loss would be, but she was unable to offer them any other advice, at least, not without a cure.

"There_ has_ to be something I've overlooked." she muttered, flipping through her notes. She just couldn't believe that a poison mixed primarily of plant materials didn't have an equal and opposite equivalence. Sighing she looked at the clock. It was 3am, time to call it quits for the time being. She was going to take a hot bath and crawl into bed

The adjoined bathroom was large and lavish, meant to impress a visiting noble. Being a ninja rarely allowed Sakura to indulge her girly desires, but seeing the large tub and fully stocked shelf of fragranced washes sent her inner squealing. After complaining about the dry harshness of the standard unscented soap most ninja used Shizune had finally taught her a masking technique that rivaled Tsunade's age henge. From then on she was able to wear whatever fragrance she wanted without worrying about enemy ninja picking up on her scent during a mission. Even Kiba, with his enhanced Inuzuka sense of smell, marveled at how he was completely unable to smell her even if he leaned in closely. Ino had been so jealous that she'd refused to talk to her for a whole month until Sakura finally grew tired of poking the pig and shared her technique.

Deciding she'd rather smell like vanilla and lilacs over honey and orchids, Sakura filled the tub with steaming water and eagerly climbed in. Just as she started to relax and mentally unwind there came a urgent knock at the door.

"Fuckin' figures..." Sakura muttered as she wrapped herself in a short silk robe. If it was an enemy maybe her state of undress would buy her a few seconds of distraction so she could punch their lights out. "What is it?" She asked, pissed and dripping, ripping open the door.

"Her Ladyship has fallen ill! The daimyō has summoned you to heal her! Please follow me immediately!" a female servant gushed, grabbing hold of Sakura's wrist. "Please come! We must hurry!"

"But I'm not dressed!" Sakura protested, trying to keep up with the panicked woman without slipping on wet marble. The thought of dashing half naked across an entire castle, most likely flashing everyone they passed, was horrifying. However explaining to her shishou that she'd let the wife of the daimyō die over a small matter of modesty was even more terrifying.

In a matter of minutes they where standing in front of the daimyō's personal chambers, the stationed ANBU very briefly glanced Sakura up and down. She could tell they where judging her attire, but she was here to save a life, not to impress anyone with her sense of fashion. At last the servant was dismissed and only she was allowed to enter.

"Daimyō sama?" she asked hesitantly as she neared the bed. He was knelt over his wife's body, holding her hand with a white knuckled grip. His wife was a traditional beauty, with a slender body, pale skin and lustrously long dark hair. The only sign that she was still alive was the soft rasping noise of her labored breathing and the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"Please save her." the daimyō begged. "Please don't let my darling die." he looked at her with raw desperation, his eyes haunted with fear that he might lose a loved one.

Sakura felt a ball of cold dread drop to her stomach because she knew that unconsciousness was a sign that it was already too late.


	5. One Good Thing

Sakura couldn't believe the wind daimyō's wife was still alive. The poor woman's lungs where completely infected and she was already exhaling poisonous gas in miniscule, but steadily increasing, increments.

"Can you save her?" The daimyō asked as he returned from his closets. In his hand was a towel and a casual yukata.

"I'm sorry, I can't. She's already too far gone. Also, if she continues to breath for much longer the amount of poison she exhales will keep increasing until both you and I are in danger." Sakura removed her chakra healing hands from the woman's body to take the towel and dry her hair.

"What do you mean, 'if she continues to breath'?" the daimyō asks as he set the yukata on the bed. He looked down at his wife's peaceful form, wishing she'd just wake up already.

"This poison corrupts the lungs of it's victims. It uses their body as part of a reproduction cycle. First it takes over the lungs and then it uses them to release more poison gas, thus starting the cycle over. If you inhale enough gas you'll end up just like her." Sakura explained. She hung the towel on the back of a nearby chair and grabbed the yukata. She could tell by the length and fabric quality that it belonged to the daimyō's wife. Even though it was a "casual" yukata the delicate red and gold koi pattern swirled from the bottom up, creating an ethereal look.

_This probably costs an entire B mission pay scroll. _Sakura thought as she slipped into the soft fabric. It was at least six inches too long but she only needed it for warmth and modesty.

"So what exactly are you saying?" the daimyō pressed. He didn't seem to understand what Sakura was trying to tell him. Or perhaps he just wasn't ready to accept it.

"I'm saying that in order to protect you I'll have to stop her breathing." Sakura said, looking the daimyō in the eye. She saw shock, then hurt...then anger.

"WHAT?! How dare you!You're supposed to be a medic! How can you talk about murdering my wife?!"

"Your Lordship...I'm sorry but she's going to die either way. She has, at the most, an hour left. During that time she'll only suffer. I can end her pain now by putting her to rest. I'm sorry but that's all I can do."

"You won't lay a hand on her! I'll call another medic if I have to!"

"You'll only doom that medic to die as well. I've told you there really isn't any other way."

"No! You're lying! Get out! GET OUT NOW!"

Sakura chose to exit via the balcony only because he was standing between her and the door. It had nothing to do with the vase the daimyō picked up and amateurishly threw at her. Really? She didn't even have to dodge.

Out on the balcony she was thankful for the warm yukata because the night was rather chilly. As she looked over the railing at the silent city below Sakura heard the door open. The daimyō was exchanging words with the ANBU guards so she expected them to come and escort her back to her room. However she heard the doors close again and then after a while an almost inaudible weeping man. Wanting to give him some measure of privacy she moved farther along the large balcony until even her ninja hearing couldn't pick up on the grieving daimyō.

A breeze passed, sweeping her rose locks into the air. She contemplated how unpredictable life was. The daimyō's wife, not likely to encounter much danger, should have lived a long and happy life. Her, on the other hand, well...most ninja didn't live long enough to retire. Chances where more likely that they would be cut down during battle or taken out by an assassin. Yet here she was, living and breathing, while a woman who'd taken fewer risks was dying. It just goes to show you that no one really knows when, where or why their time will come.

She heard a soft scuff of slipper on stone and turned to see the daimyō approaching. He stopped three feet away, eyes downcast, and spoke softly.

"On my desk is a scroll signed by me. Add to it as you wish. Do what you have to and save the rest of my people. I can not afford to lose any more than I already have."

Sakura reached towards the daimyō, wanting to lay a hand on the man's shoulder in silent understanding. As her hand touched his robe in the briefest moment he flinched away.

"She's waiting for you. Do it quickly before I lose my resolve and change my mind." he said.

Sakura nodded and brushed past him into the bedroom once more. She approached the bed and laid a soothing hand at the base of the woman's neck. In mere seconds her suffering was over, pale features resting in eternal peace.

Looking over towards the desk she spotted the aforementioned scroll. Picking it up she made her way towards the doors. Unsurprisingly they where not guarded. The daimyō had probably sent his nin away so they wouldn't pick up on his moment of weakness. After all, appearances meant a lot to people who led entire villages.

She took her time when making her way back to her quarters. She encountered no one, for which she was grateful. Mind spinning with what she would write on the scroll she realized that her autopilot wandering had led her strait to the medical reception desk.

"Well, I might as well do it now..." she said to herself. Grabbing a pen she wrote down the mandatory procedures she had listed in her head, making sure to phrase them as clearly and professionally as possible so there would be no confusion as to what was to be done. Finishing up her work she replaced the pen, rolled the scroll back up, and dropped it into the 'intake' mail box.

_At least one good thing had resulted tonight. _Sakura thought as she approached her guest room. Without bothering to change into any proper night clothes she plopped face down onto her bed and was asleep in the next five minutes. Tomorrow would be one hell of a day.


	6. Get the Sake

Sakura was awoken when a clenched fist in her hair tossed her from the bed onto the cold stone floor. She had a total of two seconds to roll out of the way of a booted foot aimed at her ribs. The following battle between her and three guards was all defense on her part and malice on the latter's.

"Why are you attacking me?!" she shouted in confusion as she dodged and ducked the full on assault. They seemed intent on horrifically injuring her, but refrained from any killing blows which meant they wanted her alive for something.

For half an hour she avoided their attacks, the battle spilling out of her bedroom window to the garden below. This gave her an advantage, as three against one in an enclosed space would eventually end with her capture.

She dodged one guard's fist and did a back flip, just narrowly avoiding another who had been waiting there to sweep her feet out from under her. With a great leap she hoisted herself into a nearby tree, knowing she had even more advantage amongst the narrow branches. She knew from experience that fighting in trees was not a common practice amongst other groups on ninja. In fact it seemed to be a characteristic exclusive to leaf ninja, who where the only ones with a large enough forest surrounding their hidden village to acquire such a specialized skill. She had even been called a "baka na zaru" or "idiotic monkey" from a few enemies in the past.

A kunai lodged itself in the tree trunk just inches from her arm. She ripped it out, glad to have a weapon at last, seeing as her pack was sitting useless at the foot of her bed.

"You are under arrest for the murder of the Wind daimyō!"

"I didn't do shit to your daimyō!"she screamed back, shifting her footing as they lept unsteadily into the trees after her. The too large yukata was hindering to her movements, every once in a while tripping her up. There was no way she could go on the offense in her current attire and lack of weapons. If she simply continued to evade it would only be a matter of time before these three tired her out. Just then one of the guards swung towards her, only to teeter uncertainty where she had just been standing.

"Where'd she go?" He asked, peering around only to find his teammates looking just as befuddled.

A few short miles away Sakura fell to one knee, clutching her head. The diamond seal on her forehead pulsed slowly a few times then faded. Her shishou had taught her how to transport using only sealed chakra but warned her to only do so in dire situations due to the level of depletion it caused to her chakra reserves.

Without proper battle wear, weapons, or sufficient chakra she had only one option. Flee. Which is what Sakura had done, but if she didn't hide quickly she would be discovered all too soon. Taking off barefoot through the city, clutching her only kunai, she disappeared into the shadows.

(0)(0)(0)Konoha(0)(0)(0)

Another late night at the office, Shizune was standing guard outside her door to make sure slipping away was not an option. Tsunade sighed, if she had known Shizune had been serious in her threat to not allow her departure until all the paperwork scheduled for today was finished she wouldn't have taken that sake induced afternoon nap. Still, it wasn't all bad, she wasn't necessarily tired but she could eat. Surely Shizune wouldn't deny such a request from her lovely Hokage who had been diligently working on her paperwork for the last three hours. Getting up to make her request known Tsunade was almost shocked enough to jump back as her office doors banged open rather loudly.

"Tsunade-sama! There's been news from Wind. It's...it's not good..." Shizune said, thrusting a scroll into Tsunade's direction.

Snatching the scroll, the slug princess wasted no time in analyzing it's contents. But...this could not be accurate...the scroll was calling for aid in hunting down her apprentice who had allegedly murdered both the Wind daimyō and his wife in the middle of the night.

"Do you smell that Shizune?" Tsunade asked, her fist making a crumpled mess out of the scroll.

"W-what?"

"This smells fishy." Tsunade gritted out, her slight hangover, hunger and daily exhaustion making her irritable and significantly more prone to violence.

Shizune took a step back to avoid any debris that might fly her way. Hokage tantrums could get messy and innocent bystanders where prone to getting hit.

"What are you thinking Tsunade-sama? Foul play?" she tentatively asked.

"Yes, either by the Wind council or an outside force which wishes to see our alliance with Wind broken." Tsunade responded, not for one second believing that her apprentice had committed such a crime. "She had to be set up...but by whom?"

"...There isn't any immediate way of knowing." Shizune replied "However Wind is expecting a response immediately. This flew in on one of their emergency carriers. If we do not respond right away they will dissolve the alliance and we'll lose both their support and any chance of finding Sakura."

"Yet if we acknowledge their claim of Sakura's treason it will require that she be given missing nin status." Tsunade pointed out.

The dilemma was clear. If she refused the claim she would lose an alliance. Other countries would question her word and the strength of their own allegiance with hidden Leaf. War could break out, as an untrustworthy village who appears not aid it's allies can be turned on by all the others in the blink of an eye. If she did have to go to war there would be no doubt that her village against multiple others would suffer greatly and many lives would be lost. If she loses Wind's alliance Tsunade would also be throwing away any chance of bringing her apprentice home because she would then not be allowed to send her nin into their territory to search for Sakura. In another scenario, if Sakura happened to return on her own, Wind would demand she be handed over to them or publically executed for treason. If Tsunade refused either demand it would be her apprentice's word against an entire country. The Leaf council might agree on Sakura's innocence but still band together and overrule her just to keep peace.

On the other hand she could acknowledge the claim. It would keep a war from breaking out and her allied countries from turning on her. However acknowledging Sakura of treason would alienate her youngest apprentice, as word travels fast when someone of such high standing goes missing nin. Doing so would be the equivalence of throwing her to the wolves as pretty much all countries would send hunter nin to either capture or kill Sakura. Capture would mean torture as someone who was so close to the Hokage herself would surely be privileged with all sorts of valuable information. Killing would mean her apprentice's corpse on her doorstep with an open palm for bounty money extended in her direction.

Neither option looked good. She was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Tsunade sama?" Shizune tentatively questioned after several long moments of quite contemplation.

"Get the sake."

For once Shizune agreed.


	7. For the Birds

The next morning Sakura very slowly peeked out of the tree hollow she had been sleeping in.

_I really am turning into a monkey..._

She had the entire night to think up a plan and what she had wasn't perfect but it would have to do for now. She had picked this location for a reason, this tree was between a river and a dirt road. A road with deep cart tracks which meant it was used by merchants. Civilians would be near, possibly traveling long distances without any expectation of encountering someone. The river was tempestuous, they would want to bathe, replenish their water supply, and give their animals a chance to drink.

That was when she would strike.

She needed alternate clothing. Trapezing around the forest in a fancy yukata was not practical and would certainty get her noticed. She needed weapons as well. It was unlikely the merchant would be carrying ninja grade weapons, well unless they were a blacksmith, but even a civilian's large blunt stick would enable her better than a single kunai. Kunai were meant for close quarter combat, dangerous with her low chakra, or a single throw, which would then leave her completely weaponless.

Her chakra had increased somewhat, but nowhere near a level she felt confident engaging in battle.

The soft fall of footsteps interrupted her thinking. She quickly yet silently climbed out of her tree and crouched behind the closest shrub large enough to conceal her. From the pattern of foot falls she could tell it was a civilian. She could also hear loud clanging noises of empty canteens, meaning they were on their way to the river to fill up.

They were heading her way.

She allowed them several paces past her before emerging from the brush. What she hadn't anticipated was the long trailing sleeve of her yukata getting caught on one of the branches. This created a noticeable rustling sound that even a civilian could pick up on.

She could only watch in anticipation as the merchant stopped and glanced from side to side in search of what had created the noise.

"If that's you Taki you need to stop right now!" a woman's shrill voice sounded. "Go back to the road and help grampap with-" then she turned around and saw Sakura standing a few feet behind her. There was several seconds of silent eye contact before Sakura launched herself towards the woman. She had enough time to intake breath to scream but never got do so as Sakura hit the pressure point behind her ear just in time.

_That was way too close..._

Sakura stared at the unconsciousness woman at her feet. Her clothing would be a little baggy on Sakura as civilian women tended to be more voluptuous than muscle hardened kunoichi. A little baggy, but not enough to look out of place or to be a hindrance during a fight. Excellent. She could use one of the canteens too.

She made quick work of swapping out their clothes, casting a basic genjutsu to disguise her appearance. To the naked eye she looked exactly like the civilian woman at her feet. It wouldn't hurt to do a little roleplay and see what else she could gather from their supply.

It didn't take her long to reach the road again and when she got there she saw an elderly man, perhaps in his 80's, struggling to unload a box from the back of a horse driven cart. There was an unholy cacophony of screeching and cawing from which the origin turned out to be a gigantic cage with at least three dozen birds of all shapes, colors and sizes.

"Would you help me!?" The old man asked very exasperated, still struggling with the box. A second later it crashed to the ground, spilling no small amount of bird seed. "Gard-darnnit! Where's that lazy oaf you call brother?"

"Don't know grampap. I thought he was here with you." Sakura replied, stooping down to help scoop the seeds back into the box.

"You fall and hit your head or something?" the old man asked. For a second Sakura paused, thinking her demeanor was all wrong and her cover was blown. Then he continued "It'd be a snowy day in hell before that boy volunteers for anything even remotely related to work. Hmphf! Prolly off in the woods explorin' again. He better not wander far. If we don't get this flock to town by tomorrow we won't make it in time for the pet fair."

Ah, pet traders, that explained it. The old man went to grab something from the cart and returned shortly. A silver dish was placed in front of her and she began to scoop the remaining seed into it. Must be feeding time.

"Did you get the water?"

_Uh oh. Forgot about that._

"The water was muddy." She said, hoping the old man would buy it.

"Must of been some hunters. Mah, don't people know how to fill canteens without tromping through the water, stirring up all the muck?" the old man complained, giving a small grunt as he sat down to rest. "After the feeding we should unhitch and lead the horses over for a quick drink. I don't want to dally too long."

Sakura stood and brought the dish to the cart to feed the birds, this being her opportunity to snoop through their belongings. She could then slip away by volunteering to go find the missing "Taki".

"Careful of that crow. He darn near bit my nail off last time." he warned.

Sakura looked into the cage, spotting a rather ruffled looking crow in one of the corners. I had red eyes, reminding her of a certain Uchiha.

_Great_


	8. Vine

If that crow had been one of Uchiha Itachi's then it must have not recognized her. She didn't know if his crows had the ability to see through genjutsu or not, but either way she was able to execute her plan without any interference. She was now fifty miles past the village the dirt road had led her to. With the money Sakura had taken she was able to buy some appropriate clothing, weapons and herbs. The herbs she ground and mixed together with sap in order to create soldier pills. She had a long journey ahead and this would sustain her longer than a meal. After consuming one pill her chakra depletion problem was also solved, making her feel immensely better about her physical state.

Clothes, weapons, food and chakra. Her survival check list was complete. Now she needed a long term plan. She wasn't foolish enough to immediately return to Konoha, as the Hokage's apprentice she knew how politics worked. By now news of her defection from Wind would have reached her home village who, as Wind's ally, had political responsibilities to hand over any fugitives. She would have to camp out in the wilderness, unseen by civilian and ninja alike, until Tsunade sent a message assuring her it was safe to return. The problem was that the negotiation process between lands could take days, weeks, months, even years! She really hated the political system. However all she could do was camouflage herself and hope for the best.

A tiny poof plumed to her right, revealing a small slug. Oh good. Maybe it was already settled then.

"Sakura-Hime-"

"Just Sakura please."

"Oh...Tsunade-Hime wishes you to meet with someone in three days." the slug gurgled.

"Where?"

A short pause as the slug appeared to be calculating "364 miles east from here. A small town called Otega. You will meet with...Noshi."

"Noshi?" Sakura asked, quite puzzled. She had never heard of such a ninja. Unless it was a civilian. Why would Tsunade-sama do that though? Sending a civilian with highly sensitive information into potentially dangerous territory was unwise.

"How will I know-" But the slug was already gone. Wonderful. On top of that she had to turn around and travel in the opposite direction she had been traveling all day. Sakura had originally started to flee west, as that was the direction that would take her home to fire country. However for some reason Tsunade wanted her to go east, back across central Wind and...lets see...367 miles would put her dangerously close to the border between Wind and Rain. She was instantly reminded of Naruto's words.

_"I'd just feel better if you had someone with you. Wind shares a boarder with Rain. Those Akatsuki bastards could get you!"_

Shaking her head Sakura turned around and began to walk east. Akatsuki was a threat, but she was a master of aversion. One had to be as the medic of the team, after all what good was a dead medic? She would follow orders and meet this Noshi in three days as they no doubt had something for her. Slug summons where great but because they did not have hands or pockets they could not transport items.

Traveling back across the Land of Wind was was not as difficult as the first time, it was rather uneventful to be honest. The wind even ceased to blow Sakura off her feet thanks to the highly tredded shoes she had bought. She made sure to time her passing of the daimyō's village with the cover of night and gave the patrolling ninja a wide berth.

She did hear an interesting tale of a magical forest nymph wandering the nearby woods. The nymph apparently had pink hair and wore an extravagant red and gold yukata. She heard travelers warning others that the nymph liked to reside close to rivers and would lure someone to their watery death by hypnotizing them with her beauty. Huh.

Sakura threw another piece of wood into the small fire, having stopped for the night. She gazed into the flames, thinking of her current predicament. It really could take years to clear her name...what would she do in that time? Would she be given orders via messengers and still operate as a ninja of hidden leaf? Or would she be branded a missing nin and have to live her life on the run? Where would she go? Unless she changed her appearance staying in the Land of Fire or the Land of Wind would be too risky. Yet if she moved to another country she could encounter old enemies who would want to torture her for information or perhaps make an example out of her. She could pretend to be civilian, but she didn't really have any civilian type skills. A health clinic would be too risky of a choice, as most people recognized her for her healing abilities.

Sakura gave a little chuckle at the thought of opening a laundromat or a bakery. Maybe she should run a ramen stand, wouldn't that make Naruto jealous!

At the thought of her friend Sakura's mood soured. Who knew when the next time she saw Naruto would be. Suddenly she felt very alone. As if to mock Sakura's sadness it began to rain softly, drenching her clothes and putting out the fire she'd almost let die anyway. Turning to the nearest tree she pressed her back to it's trunk and slid down to sit cross legged. Here she would rest until sun rise, after which her journey would continue.

This Noshi better bring her some good news.

(0)(0)(0)morning(0)(0)(0)

Sakura woke slowly, something she hadn't the luxury of doing for a while. Usually her ninja senses snapped her into instant awareness. However this time she very gradually became aware of the warm morning light and gentle bird song. It was peaceful, the wind blowing through the tall grass and sparse trees to make a soft hum of life. Speaking of life, somehow a small vine had sprouted during the night and was trying to climb her. She looked at the thin wisp of life curled around her ankle and smiled. How bizarre. It hadn't been there last night, she would have remembered the tiny sprout before falling asleep. Somewhat amazed at how much the plant had grown in one night Sakura picked up a nearby stick and jabbed it into the soil next to her entrapped ankle. Gently unwinding the vine mistaking her as a trellis she coiled it around the upright stick instead, so that it could continue to grow. Such determination to live should be preserved and encouraged.

A quick stretch later she was off again, continuing east towards her destination. She was hardly a few seconds departed before the vine slithered it's self back into the earth.


	9. Barrel of Fish

Since Sakura was making more than enough progress on ground coverage she paused midday to enter a village. She would check to see if anyone was willing to pay her for a few hours of work and hopefully consult a map of the area. This village was rather large, having a thriving marketplace full of shops and plenty of people. Quickly locating a travelers den Sakura entered, noticing the maps at the counter where a middle aged woman sat.

"Welcome!" the woman smiled.

"Hi! May I take a look at your maps please?"

"Go ahead hun. I won't charge ya for peekin'." she said with a wink.

Uh...was she just hit on by someone old enough to be her mother? Shaking it off Sakura grabbed a local map and unrolled it. Lets see...the daimyō's village was there...Otega was over there...and this village...Wait what?! She was unpleasantly surprised to find herself slightly south east. Sakura could have sworn she had been traveling dead east this entire time, now she was going to have to correct her path. Stunned she replaced the map, how could her ninja senses fail her like that? Out of everyone on her team she was the best at calculating directions. She was even better at it than chronically late Kakashi sensei! Yes that man may claim to be "lost on the road of life" but that translated into just plain old "lost". How a ninja of his caliber could be guilty of such an embarrassing flaw was incomprehensible to her, but that was beside the point! She _never_ mistook her location. What. The. Hell.

"Something wrong hun?"

"Oh, nothing serious. Just a little off track." Sakura replied.

"I hope you don't mind me asking but is that your natural hair color?" the woman questioned, her intrigue almost visible.

"Yes it is, do you mind me asking if there are any one shot jobs around here? I'm not picky, I just need compensation for just a few hours of labor or even a meal."

"Why yes, as a matter of fact! I know-"

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"

The woman stood up and bent down to look under the counter. "Shirou what are you doing?!" she demanded. "Why are you smashing your brush onto the paper like that?" There were several more explosive bangs after which came a young child's voice.

"Lookit'! It's fireworks! Like at new years!"

"You're making a mess is what you're doin' boy! Clean up that paint you've splattered all over the floor and go wash up. It's about lunch time and your mom'll be back soon. Go on!" she commanded.

A little paint splattered boy jumped out from under the counter, clutching a mangled piece of paper in one fist, and dashed out of the room. The woman sat back down and gave Sakura an exasperated look.

"Grandkids!" she huffed, chuckling a bit. "As I was saying, the fisher man down the road is always looking for kitchen help. Few hours there'll make you smell bad but it'll also make your wallet fat. Pays really well, I know because my son in law helps him out every once in a while. I can tell you're a ninja hun, it'll be easy work gutting fish won't it? Just imagine their your enemy!" She began to laugh quite mirthfully as if she'd made the funniest joke in the world instead of accusing Sakura of enjoying eviscerating people.

"Eh heh heh heh..." Sakura laughed uneasily, taking a step back. This woman was a little...morbid. "Thank you ma'am, I better be on my way now."

"Watch out for the hairdresser hun! With that hair she'll sink her claws into you in a hot second."

Sakura simply nodded her thanks once more before stepping outside. She followed signs towards the fish market and it wasn't long before she stood outside it's entrance. When she opened the door there was a tiny bell and a man's voice from the back.

"Welcome! Be there in a sec!" he shouted. There was the tell tale sound of a faucet turning on and somebody washing their hands.

A few minutes later someone ducked through a door behind the counter with plastic curtains. Sakura stopped and stared. This man was at least four times her width and so tall that she couldn't believe he actually had to bend over just fit through the door frame. It seemed he was just as shocked to see her, as he paused wiping his wet hands with a towel to gawk right back at her.

"Yer dad send you to pick something up sweetheart?" he asked, placing the towel over one broad shoulder.

_Hun? Sweetheart? What was with these people and pet names?_

"My name is Sakura and I was told I could find work here." She replied.

"Sorry sweetheart, I won't be needing a shopkeeper. I may look like a meat head but I got enough smarts to count money."

"Actually I heard you could use some help in the kitchen. As a kunoichi I work well with a blade." Sakura informed him. It was also a subtle threat not to make any "I should have guessed because women belong in the kitchen" jokes. Sai, whilst trying to fit in, had made that mistake once. Only. Once. Who gave him such a distasteful book of jokes nobody knew.

Personally she suspected Kiba.

"Well if you're sure little miss, follow me." the giant of a man said as he turned and crouched back through the plastic curtained door.

Sakura followed him to see a well stocked kitchen. Several ice carts of already filleted fish to one side, a plentiful counter, two double sinks and a barrel of live fish to the other side. In the far back there was a metal door which she assumed was the walk in refrigeration unit.

"I was just working on this barrel here. If you'd pick up where I left off I can start seasoning. I'll pay you 1200 yen an hour and you can pick out an average sized fish when you're done. Sound fair?"

"Yes of course." Sakura agreed. "Where should I put my stuff?" she motioned to her pack.

"Just leave it on that chair" he motioned towards a stool in the corner. "My name's Joji by the way."

"Nice to meet you, shall we get started?" Sakura walked over to the cutting board, swiped some fish entrails into a nearby bucket and picked up a deba knife.

"Sure, let me just get you a net." Joji offered.

"That won't be necessary." Sakura said as she reached right into the barrel and snatched a fish with one bare hand. Joji stared at her, astonished at how quickly she caught the live fish. He then witnessed her spiking, bleeding, gutting and eventually skinning it all within five minutes. At that rate she would finish the barrel in under thirty minutes...

"I'll uh...I'll go get another barrel then." Joji stuttered, unnerved at how much more efficient she was than he. His family had been fisher men for generations, with his great grandfather teaching it to his grandfather who taught it to his father who passed the knowledge down to him. Watching this petite, pink haired girl master his family's craft with more skill was frightening. He shook his head, heading towards the back door where two more barrels waited to be brought in. Maybe he should have been a ninja.


	10. Smothering Death Beast

"Get back here and die you little fucker!" Sakura cursed. She was shoulder deep in the final barrel, chasing around the last fish. It was actually a very tiny shark to be precise, a tiny shark with a huge amount of conviction to live. So far she'd been attempting to catch it for five minutes and had been bitten twice.

"OUCH!" Sakura withdrew her hands and began to heal a third bite mark.

"How about you leave that one to me then little lady?" Joji offered.

"I have a better idea. You said I could pick out an average sized fish, does a small shark equate?" she asked.

"Ya want em, he's yours. You certainty earned it, finished five hours of work in only three! I've had people diddle around just to get paid more, but you're all about efficiency aren't you?"

"You bet." Sakura said as she washed her hands. "I'll carry out the entrail buckets and then be on my way."

"Still got a ways to go?" he asked.

"A few days travel." Sakura offered, making sure not to give him her exact destination. When on the run, one couldn't be too careful.

She grabbed two buckets in each fist and carried them out back. She placed them in Joji's cart so that he could return them to the water. It was important to keep nutrient levels high in small fishing ponds.

She returned to the kitchen and found that Joji must have gone out front to count her pay. Now was her chance. She quickly located the live scroll in her pack and unrolled it. This particular scroll was capable of sealing live animals, very rare and expensive. Thankfully her shishou was besties with the number one seal expert in the world and convinced him teach Sakura how to scribe her own.

Of course she couldn't just seal the shark without water, so she spread the scroll over the outside of the barrel. Sakura would have to seal the whole thing, something she hadn't done before. Usually it was something much smaller, like extra shuriken or a change of clothes, meaning a whole barrel was going to be a challenge.

Making the correct hand signs she focused very carefully to perfectly manipulate her chakra into preserving the barrel of water inside the scroll. It wasn't as difficult as she had thought, but it certainly took a small chunk out of her chakra reserves. Why would she go through such trouble for a bitey little bastard? Simple. This baby shark had a higher chakra signature than normal, meaning it was a low level nin animal. A fact which was further proven by it's intelligent evasion of her attempts to capture and kill it.

Once the deed was done she threw the scroll back into her pack and went out front to collect her pay.

"Nice working with you, come back any time." Joji told her as he extended an envelope towards her.

"Thank you." Sakura said as she took a peek inside the envelope to make sure it was all there. Happy with what she found she slipped the envelope into the side pocket of her thigh holster. It was better to keep money on your person just in case you had to ditch your pack.

After a quick meal Sakura would continue her journey, this time in the correct direction. She could still stop and rest during the night, but would have to travel hard for the the next few hours. A meal would fuel her, plus she was just plain tired of soldier pills.

"What will it be miss?" a young man asked her, she had decided on a simple food cart with grilled kabobs.

"Two salmon sticks please." Sakura requested, handing over the correct amount of money. A moment later she was given two wrapped kabobs with speared salmon and vegetables. They smelled absolutely delicious. Biting into one she was happy to find it was aproapriately seasoned and cooked to perfection."Did you happen to buy these salmon at the fish market just down the road?" she asked.

"Why yes, Joji would be the owner. Does a fantastic job doesn't he? Won't share his seasoning recipe with anyone though, hmph! His family's been here since this town was just a muddy watering hole."

"Great guy. Thanks."

"You're welcome miss, please come again!"

She walked to a close by park to sit on a bench in order to finish her meal. As she was biting into the last piece of fish she felt a shadow come over her. Looking over, none too worried as she sensed it was a civiliean, she saw a rather eccentric young woman.

"Oh my gosh! Is that your real hair babe?" the woman gushed. She had platinum blond hair streaked with pink down to her waist and wore the most colorful outfit Sakura had ever seen. It consisted of red high heels, purple spandex, a orange tunic and large blue hoop earnings. To top it off her eyes where green and she wore _yellow_ lipstick. This woman was a walking rainbow, and a rude one at that.

"Yes this is my real hair, can I help you?" Sakura replied with a full mouth, not caring if that was disgusting. Maybe the woman would go away if she became grossed out with Sakura's "eating habits". Truthfully she only talked with her mouth full when she wanted to intentionally irritate Kakashi. He had so very few pet peeves but people who talked with a full mouth happened to be one of them. Naruto did it too, although she suspected her knucklehead teammate didn't know it bothered Kakashi and just had poor table manners. Either way it was hilarious to watch Kakashi's one eye twitch in aggravation every time.

"For real? It's not dyed or anything right?" The woman pressed. After only receiving a raised eyebrow as a response she continued. "I'm Ayaka, the only hairdresser in this town. I just got to get my hands in that hair of yours, would you mind following me back to my shop?"

Shit. Sakura had completely forgotten about the warning she'd been given earlier by the woman who ran the travelers den. So this was the hairdresser huh? With a name meaning_ colorful flower_ her outfit almost made sense.

"I'm actually leaving town at the moment." Sakura said, walking over to a nearby bin to throw away her kabob wrappers.

"Oh no! But you're the only person I've ever seen with natural pink hair! I promise I'll make you look ethereal! Pleeeeeeeeease?" Ayaka begged.

"I really don't have the time or money." _Who used the word ethereal in a casual conversation anyway?_

"Absolutely free of charge! It won't take more than an hour of your time. I'll even pay you!" Ayaka offered, sounding desperate.

"Pay me? For what?" Sakura was quiet puzzled, turning back around to give Ayaka a look of strong skepticism. This woman wasn't just eccentric, she was no doubt obsessed.

"Your hair is such a beautiful shade! I would like a small lock of your hair so I can use it as reference to color match my dye. Afterwards I can shampoo, condition and style it for you if you'll let me."

Sakura paused, touching the ends of her hair which had grown down to her collar bone. She had been planning on getting it cut before she was sent on this disaster of a mission...and a wash would be nice too. Sakura hadn't been able to bathe for a couple of days, not since she was chased out of the daimyō's home. Of course she wasn't as vain about her hair as she used to be, but why turn down the opportunity when it was offered _with_ money she could really use?

"A few inches trimmed and a quick wash. No style. You have half an hour. Deal?" Sakura offered.

"Deal!" Ayaka screeched, grabbing hold of Sakura's arm and practically dragging her across the street to the hair salon. She was promptly sat in a chair and told to lean back until her head was over a sink. The whole time her hair was being washed Ayaka chattered about anything and everything, something Sakura promptly tuned out. She secretly loved it when someone had their hands in her hair, rubbing her scalp and gently playing with the pink strands. After the wash she was relocated to a chair across the room in front of a mirror.

"How many inches babe?" Ayaka asked, picking up her shears.

"Short enough so it doesn't touch my shoulders but long enough that it can still be tied back." Sakura replied.

Ayaka began snipping, making sure to collect the hair in a small container instead of letting it drop to the floor. "Have you ever considered growing your hair out really long?" she asked, sounding almost dreamy.

"I had long hair when I was younger."

"Oh really? What made you cut it?"

"...It made me hot at night" That wasn't the main reason why she kept her hair short, but it wasn't a complete lie either. Sakura definitely didn't miss waking up with her hair wrapped around her face and neck like some sort of smothering death beast.

"That's too bad babe, I think you'd look darling with long hair. Well, all done, what do you think?"

"Looks good, thank you." Sakura said. It wasn't as choppy as she usually liked it, but she wasn't that picky.

"No, thank _you_! You really made my day. I know that sounds silly but it's true. Here you go babe." Ayaka offered her an envelope with money in it. Sakura didn't check inside it this time because honestly she shouldn't be paid any amount of money for letting someone wash and cut her hair. Normally Sakura wouldn't even accept it, but she was in a tight spot so her pride would have to take second place for now. She said goodbye and stepped outside.

Her break was over, it was time to finally head back out.


	11. Lollipop

Two days later Sakura reached her destination, Otega. It was a quaint little village on the border of Rain and Wind with a modest academy for civilians. Due to the academy there were many people her age and younger among the population, making it easy for Sakura to fit in with the crowd. Now how she was going to find her contact, that was a much more difficult challenge. She hadn't been given a specific location beyond the village itself and had no knowledge of what this Noshi person looked like. It was also unlikely they would recognize her henged form either, making their meeting quite unpredictable.

Something was tickling the back of her knee. Turning she looked down to find a spider. One of those long leggy harmless kind.

"Get offa me." She muttered, swiping at it with her fingers. It landed on the ground and began to speed off as if it was late for a meeting. Wait...Nah, she was thinking too far into it.

A few shops later, while she was admiring a pretty little puppet display, Sakura felt something crawling on her upper arm. Sticking out her elbow she turned to see what it was. Another long leggy spider was there, this time doing a series of squats.

"Don't tell me this freaking village is infested with spiders." she grumbled, once again brushing off the spider to watch it speed away.

After the third time, whilst she was leaning against the brick wall of a church listening to the music from within, Sakura was less inclined to believe the spiders where merely a coincidence. Now there where three, all marching up her shin as if they belonged there. Sakura stuck out her leg and glared at them.

"Alright you pests, lead me to them." she demanded, giving her leg a harsh shake. The spiders flew off and began their hurried pace in the same direction their predecessors had traveled. Noshi must be a member of the Aburame clan.

Four blocks later she tracked the spiders to a small coffee cafe where they scurried up the pant leg of a cloaked figure. She casually sat down and waived down the waitress.

"What news?" She asked, accepting the menu from the bowing waitress.

"Mother is trying to talk father into calming down. He's still quite upset you left home and wants to bring you back immediately." the cloaked figure said. She new that voice, it was Shino's. At once she understood.

Noshi. No. Shi. Shi. No. Shino.

Ah, the old "reverse the syllables" trick her shishou had taught her. It was a childish game most people would not assume deadly shinobi would use to assign code names. Hers happened to be Rakusa.

"Well I'm not coming home until he's cooled off am I?" Sakura kept up the banter. It was important they did not speak directly of what they were discussing, else some enemy ears might pick up on their plans.

"He's planning on permanently grounding you." Shino said.

_Yeah, grounding us. As in putting us in the ground permanently._

"It wasn't even my fault." Sakura muttered. "Yes I'll have the orange sugar blossom tea, thank you." she requested, handing the menu back to the waitress. As soon as she was gone Sakura continued. "I tried to deliver the medicine but the client was quite obstinate. Wouldn't listen to a word I said."

"Mother understands this, but it's still not wise to return home so soon. She's sent me with some funds to ease your burden." He handed her a satchel of money, which she placed in her lap. "Toruna doesn't know anything is amiss, we would rather not set him off against father."

"Right, that would be a disaster. Well, tell mother I'm doing fine and not to worry. She taught me to be strong and I'm actually quite enjoying my travels. Speaking of which, didn't you tell me about a good place to visit that time you went to the land of Grass?"

"You're memory is as bad as ever. I hated the land of Grass, too much pollen in the air. It's the land of Rain you're thinking of."

"Rain huh? Where was it, their capital? Thank you very much" she added as the waitress placed her steaming tea in front of her. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the stir stick with a orange swirl lollipop instead of sugar cubes. She'd heard of some newer cafes serving their drinks like this but had never really tried it before.

"Amegakure is fun but too industrialized." Shino stated.

"Ah yes, I forgot about your country heart." she joked.

"Takako isn't all that country though. Sure it's surrounded by farm and the mountains but it's quite a sizable village."

"Takako huh? I'll have to look it up." She finished stirring her tea and took a sip.

_Mmmm. This was really good. I should start sweetening my tea with flavored lollipops instead of plain sugar._


	12. Siren's Song

Now a few miles outside Otega, having finished her covert conversation with not-Shino, Sakura opened the satchel of money. Plenty of paper bills faced her, at least three months worth of mission pay. What she was looking for was at the bottom, among the handful of random coins.

"Ah ha!" she cheered in triumph, finding the coin which was actually a disguised scroll. Releasing it's jutsu she found a message from her Hokage, as expected.

_Sakura,_

_As Shino informed you the Wind council is still adamant about your capture and execution so it's best you disappear for now. It is too dangerous to stay within allied lands, so I'm sending you into enemy territory with trust in your undercover abilities. It is too risky to maintain regular contact, so after these funds run out you're on your own. As for Naruto, he is being kept informed that you are still in Wind assisting with poison control. If he finds out you are even __temporarily__ a missing nin I fear his actions will worsen the delicate political situation we are in. Shino has given you you're hidden location, Kokata, which is a small village near the south west region of Rain. Stay inconspicuous and you will be safe there. If there is an emergency contact my summons. You are hereby off duty until your return or unless I say otherwise. One more thing, sign the enclosed extended absence contract and return it via the mail nin who will visit Kokata in three weeks. This will clear your name completely once we have this mess sorted out and you are able to return home. Stay safe apprentice, and don't you dare get out of combat shape!_

_~Tsunade_

Sakura performed a small fire jutsu to incinerate the scroll and reattached the satchel of money to her hip pouch. She had expected this outcome but that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed. Sakura was now on her own, for who knows how long. In addition she would be in enemy territory, living constantly with her guard up and without the support of her teammates.

All because some dumb ass Wind daimyō had died in the middle of the night and she was the last person to have seen him alive.

Why oh why hadn't she checked him for poison before returning to her room?!

Regret couldn't change her present situation so without further a due Sakura took off towards her new destination.

(o)(o)(o)(one week later)(o)(o)(o)

After a week of grueling travel and six or seven different henges she was finally approaching Kokata.

_I hope I lost them._

The day before yesterday, just before entering a village, Sakura had felt a chakra signature following her. It was in no way distinctive or strong, just persistent in shadowing her. Originally she had planned on passing the village, but seeing as she was being followed and had a better chance of disappearing in a crowd she opted to stop. As Sakura walked through the marketplace she ducked into an alley and quickly switched her henge. After that she hadn't felt the chakra signature. However just the fact that someone had been following her made her uneasy. From then on Sakura switched her hedge every day, even if she hadn't encountered anyone, and made sure to completely suppress her chakra so that it appeared to be a civilian's.

There, the village was on the horizon. She could see the outline of modest buildings against the setting sun. She stopped, not wanting to roll into town like a shady stranger. This would be her home for a while, her reputation would have to be guarded.

During her travel Sakura had rolled around a few ideas in her head about what identity she should adapt while living in Kokata. Should she be a young woman who had ran away from an unwanted marriage? Her fake parents wanting her to marry into a boorish or even brutish marriage for money. Or maybe she was a ninja's widowed wife? Her beloved having been tragically killed on a mission and she simply could not remain in the village because everything reminded her of them. Or maybe an orphan, given up at birth? She could claim to be in search of her distant relatives, who where rumored to have lived in this region. There where so many options Sakura had a hard time picking one.

It began to trickle softy, pushing Sakura to find shelter in a nearby cave. She pulled out the small map she had purchased during her last stop in a village. Studying how far away from her home she had traveled it seamed like worlds away. Sakura eyed the small patch of trees where she knew her unmarked hidden leaf village was. She had traveled half way through Fire, across all of Wind and had just recently entered Rain. Kokata was a good distance from the border, just far enough that ninja would dare not risk traveling without enticing a confrontation with the enemy.

Just then Sakura realized it was rather strange for her to be able to see the map with such clarity. Especially at night and without a fire. Glancing around she noticed a eerie green glow emanating from the back of the cave. What the? Was there something there? Cautiously Sakura stood and followed the light and as she traveled further something else became noticeable. Or maybe not...Was she imagining things or was there really a harmonious tune, almost inaudible, also echoing coming from the back of the cave? Intrigued Sakura continued deeper and deeper into the mysterious cave, as if following a siren's song.


	13. Green and Orange

Sakura awoke with a start, darting her eyes around to verify her surroundings. She was still in the cave, exactly where she had settled night before.

"Blurgh!" she exclaimed and shuttered, rubbing her eyes free of crust. When she was little her mother used to tell her it was dream fairy dust. Her father told her it was from the sand man guarding her from bad dreams. She could remember the two of them arguing about who was right. Sakura didn't know until years later that it was actually a debate on whether she was healthy enough to attend sleepover parties. This was because as a child she suffered severe nightmares.

Speaking of nightmares, she could tell from her restless state that she hadn't slept very well and had probably suffered one last night. Good thing she couldn't remember. Thank kami for those therapy lessons her parents had forced her to undergo. She very rarely dreamed anymore due to her ability to subconsciously suppress them. Every once in a while one would slip through, but she could never remember them...

She popped another vile soldier pill and picked up her pack, deeming it an acceptable time to make her arrival.

Kokata was your average mix of industrial, commercial and suburb neighborhoods. It really didn't stand out on the map, which was most likely why Tsunade-sama had chosen it.

"Hey you looking for the tourist booth?" came a voice to her right.

Sakura turned to see a woman with long green hair and orange eyes. She kind of reminded Sakura of Lee's jumpsuit and legwarmers.

"No actually I'm new here and looking for a place to rent."

"I'd recommend visiting that hotel over there." The woman pointed to a building down the street "The owner should know of some places for long term rent."

"Thanks"

Sakura strode into the hotel to see another person with green hair and orange eyes. This time a man.

"How can I help you miss? A room for the night?" he asked.

"No sorry I'm looking for something long term. Maybe a small apartment for rent?"

"Hmmm...Well you don't have very man options but I happen to know a woman by the name of Akina who is looking for a tenant. You'll find her sewing shop two blocks down on your right." The man told her.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome miss. Anything else?"

"Yes, do you know of anyone hiring in this area?" Sakura asked, as obtaining a job was next on her list.

"Well we happen to be hiring maids at the moment. Do you have any experience?" The man inquired.

"I had two messy team er...brothers whom I looked after." she informed him honestly. Sai and Naruto could be such pigs.

"Well to be honest I'm a little desperate to hire so I'm willing to give you a shot. Come back when you've gotten all settled in with Akina and we can talk wages." He offered.

"Sure. Later today ok?" Surely finding a place to stay wouldn't take all day.

"That's fine. See you then. Good luck!" the man wished her.

Two blocks down she saw the sewing shop. After entering Sakura was a little freaked out to see that the woman behind the counter also had green hair and orange eyes. Come to think of it, this coloring seemed to be dominant among the entire population of Kokata.

"Need something mended miss?" The woman asked with the sweetest voice Sakura had ever heard.

"Oh no, actually I was informed that you're the owner of some rental property and I'd like to apply as a tenant."

The woman looked Sakura up and down, clearly unhappy with her travel hardened appearance.

"I don't like to rent short term, how long are you going to be in town?" She pried.

"Indefinitely, I'm hoping to make Kokata my new home. I look this way only because I've just arrived." Sakura assured her.

"Oh? From where exactly?" the woman asked, sounding quite suspicious.

"I ran away from my village in Wind. It's a small village with very old traditions and so my parents arranged a marriage for me that I did not want."

"That is unfortunate, but before I agree to take you on as a tenant I must know if anyone dangerous is going to come looking for you. I don't want any trouble, you understand?"

"Yes ma'am. I come from a family of harmless farmers and I left no indication of where I was going. I promise I won't bring any trouble." Sakura placated her.

"I'll hold you to that promise. One last thing...if you've just arrived how are you planning to pay rent?"

"I've already set up an interview with the hotel owner, he mentioned needing maid service." Sakura informed her, thinking it was lucky to have already found work or else she would've been turned away just now.

The woman smiled, "Well then, I look forward to being your new land lady. Rent is due on the first of every month, let me show you what I have available."


	14. Meat On Your Bones

Two weeks later Sakura sat on her front porch waiting for the mail nin to pass through Kokata so she could hand them her signed contract. Her neighbor's white Persian cat coiled around her ankles in an attempt to coax a petting. She lazily stroked the feline and kept her gaze glued to the front gates.

Any minute now...

A tiny black speck came into view right where the road and horizon met. Slowly, as it grew closer, it took the form of the mail nin. These ninja didn't have any affiliation with villages or employers. They did not accept payment for their services, remaining completely confidential and neutral when delivering messages for _everyone_. This made them diplomatically immune to any laws or requirements across lands. Mail nin where actually treated well in all territories as they are considered exceptionally rare and valuable ninja.

The downside of the occupation was that it was incredibly hard to form relations with others if you didn't have a place to call home and were constantly traveling from one place to another. For this reason mail nin where often quite jovial and friendly if you took the time to actually talk to them as you would with a friend. Call them attention starved if you want but their upbeat and optimistic attitude was a refreshing change compared to the surly or jaded ninja Sakura was used to.

"Good morning ma'am." the nin who was now standing in front of her greeted.

"Ugh, call me Rakusa. I'm too young to be a ma'am." she demanded. The mail nin's smile widened.

"I have something for you." they extended a rather fat envelope towards her.

She took it and passed over the contract scroll. "I have something for you as well. Have you eaten this morning?" It was customary to offer mail nin a meal, sort of like a non official tip. How else would they survive without money to buy food?

"Yes I have, but thank you for the offer. I must be on my way." They saluted her and took off across the rooftops towards the wealthier side of town where a noble was no doubt expecting some news.

Sakura brought the envelope into her modest apartment, only opening it once her door was sealed and trapped.

It was a info packet from Shizune senpai including more research findings on the poison. According to Shizune's notes they were still unable to find a cure. However, if a newly developed organic tincture was ingested in time the infected person would fall into a coma like state. Due to their reduced heart and lung functions the poison could not spread as quickly, allowing more time for them to be transported to a medical facility. All of Konoha was informed on the early signs of infection and where supplied with vials of this tincture. News was also spreading quickly to other lands and demand for this tincture was growing every day.

Sakura knew opportunity when it came knocking.

Included in the info packet was a detailed list of ingredients and mixing instructions for the tincture. Thankfully it was relatively inexpensive, with only one ingredient she would have to buy rather than gather. She could easily make this tincture at a low cost and still sell it quite affordably while making a decent profit. Besides, she was already tired of cleaning up after slobbish tourists at the hotel. Her infamous short temper was tested multiple times a day, almost resulting in the whole building being leveled to the ground by her chakra enhanced fists.

Making up her mind Sakura grabbed a pen and paper and began to draft her two weeks notice.

(o)(o)(o)(Later that day)(o)(o)(o)

"What?! You're quitting?" came the dismayed voice of her boss. "But you've only been here two weeks and you're the best I've ever hired!"

"You sure know how to flatter a lady but unfortunately I won't be changing my mind."

"Please be reasonable, I'm willing to compromise here. I've gotten more customer compliments about you than any of the other girls, some of them I've employed for _years_. I'll give you a raise say, 250 more yen an hour and you only have to work weekends. You're the only one available on weekends."

"I'll think about it. What's on the schedule for today?" Sakura asked, tying her apron behind her back.

"You have three rooms, 7, 12, 15, needing to be turned over. Then the lobby needs dusting. After that come find me and I'll give you the keys to the meeting room. We have a big booking for tonight and I want the place to be spotless. Make sure you get the light fixtures, windows, mantle place, even the baseboards. Then you'll need to go out back and get Hatchi to load up some firewood for you. It goes-"

"In a neat pile to the right of the pit. I know I know." Sakura chuckled. She had done it at least five times already with the fireplace in the tea room. How many times was he going to remind her?

"I forget how good you're memory is." He laughed

"Not at all, you're just forgetful." Sakura joked.

"Yeah well, live to be sixty like me and we'll see how good you're memory is then won't we?" He teased back.

Sakura laughed, grabbing a cleaning cart full of supplies, and left the front lobby to start her daily chores.

It was quick work turning over the three rooms for the next inhabitants. She replaced the towels and bedding, wiped down all surfaces, then finished off with a vacuuming. The lobby wasn't too hard to dust, the most annoying thing being the shelf of knik knaks the hotel owner's wife insisted on having for "decoration". Personally Sakura thought the little cat statuettes where gaudy and worthless. Nevertheless she finished her cleaning of the lobby by early afternoon and decided then to take a quick lunch break. The kitchen was one of her favorite places, both for the food and the company it provided.

"Afternoon Shiri. I'm starving! What's on the menu?" she inquired.

"Homemade miso with gyoza and rice." the plump middle aged woman told her. "For desert I've prepared some red tea and wagashi."

"Sounds heavenly." she could almost hear her stomach grumbling in anticipation.

"Aye, well that's what our guests requested so I prepared extra just in case." Shiri placed a bowl of miso soup in front of Sakura and returned a few seconds later with a platter of gyoza, which where essentially the healthier version of pot stickers.

"Are you talking about the big group of guests that have the meeting room booked for tonight?" she asked before slurping her soup and hummed her appreciation.

Shiri's smile widened. "Yes, they made very specific requests. It's a bit of a weird combination if you ask me. Usually you serve sushi with miso and gyoza with udon but whatever makes the guest happy I suppose. I had to go to the market this morning to get the red tea, it was expensive! Twice as much as green tea costs."

"I don't think I've ever tried red tea before." Sakura admitted.

"Oh no?" the old woman raised an eyebrow. She turned to the stove and poured a small cup, placing it next to Sakura's plate. "Have a taste and tell me what you think."

Sakura grasped the steaming cup in her hands and gave it a few cooling blows. Taking a tentative sip she smiled. "I like it!"

"Thought so." Shiri chortled. "Seems to be more popular with the younger generations. I personally think it's too sweet and I like the earthier taste of green better." She watched Sakura quickly finish her meal and gulp down the rest of her tea. "What do you have next?"

"I have to prepare the meeting room. He want's it spotless."

"Well you've got your work cut out for you. I think the last time it was used was six months ago. Probably dustier than an attic in there."

"Great. Thanks for the meal, it was delicious as always."

"Oh you're welcome hon. I'm just trying to put some meat on your bones."

Sakura shook her head in exasperation and went back to the front desk to get the meeting room keys.


	15. Same Old Song

"Already done with the rooms _and _the lobby?" He was always surprised at how efficient "Rakusa" was, not knowing she was a actually a undercover ninja. Sakura was even holding back quite a bit, not wanting to arouse too much suspicion with her unusually fast pace.

"Yes sir." she said cheerfully, accepting the keys he held out to her.

"I forgot to mention they'd like the fire lit before they get here, the curtains closed, and someone to clear the dirty dishes after they're done eating."

"I can help with the fire and curtains but not with the dishes. I'm done at five today."

"Are you sure? I'll pay you extra." He bribed.

Sakura shook her head. "I have plans." She wanted to get some training in.

"Suit yourself. I can always ask Shiri I suppose."

A few minutes later she was unlocking the large ornate door to the meeting room. It was always locked so she was quite curious to see what it contained.

"Oh boy..."

It was quite large and fancy, with a long black marble table, an enormous fireplace, and western style pillars. There were even expensive looking decorations such as paintings and vases. The chairs seemed to be made out of dark red velvet and hell, the matching rug alone was probably worth more than six months salary.

….And every surface was covered in a generous layer of dust. Lovely.

Rolling up her sleeves just a little more she grabbed a rag and bottle of multi surface cleaner and set to work.

It took her two hours. Her boss hadn't mentioned that the fireplace needed to be cleared of soot. It was usually done the day after the fire was extinguished, not left for months so it became compacted and difficult to remove.

When she was finally done Sakura stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips and smiled with pride at the squeaky clean room, lit fireplace, and a perfectly stacked pile of firewood.

Time to go wash up a bit, at least so she didn't look like a chimney sweep, and get some training done.

Rolling the cart back to the cleaning closet in the greeting room her boss looked up from his log book then glanced at the clock.

"Time to go home then?"

"Yes sir." Sakura confirmed, hanging up her apron.

"I don't need to check the room before you go, you always do an excellent job." He was trying to butter her up into changing her mind and staying.

"Thank you, have a good afternoon." Sakura quickly bade goodbye, stepping out the door. Some people never gave up!

At home she was quick about the wash, forgoing a whole shower in favor of simply using a rag to wipe most of the soot from her face, neck arms and legs. A change of clothes and a bite of food later she was out the door again. There was a lovely little clearing about a mile from town where she deemed it safe to train unnoticed if she refrained from shattering the surroundings with her super strength.

Today she was actually skipping her usual warm up and endurance training. This was because just last night, as she was laying in bed, Sakura had been stricken by a moment of inspiration. She believed it was the beginning of a new skill and wanted to test her theory. It had to do with chakra, of course, because that was her specialty. Chakra, control, strings, and...bonds.

In the clearing Sakura sat cross legged and began to meditate. She did this at home every night but liked to do a deeper session out here before training. Focusing on her chakra paths she flooded them, circulating her supply so it flowed evenly through her body. This always made her break out in goosebumps, but it also felt absolutely divine. It was as if Sakura was completely balanced, all mind body and spirit.

Very slowly she opened her eyes and extended her hands in front of her so they mirrored each other. Feeling the steady flow of power, she extended the chakra past her skin to form protruding blades on each fingertip. Once the chakra was out of your physical body it was almost impossible to manipulate, at least for anyone with less than _perfect_ chakra control.

Sakura had done just this many times before.

Now to attempt something she had never thought of before. She was going to try to transform the chakra blades into strings and connect them to each other to form a flexible bond.

As expected she had a hard time forcing the chakra to bridge the gap between her separate hands. It had a tendency to instead connect between her fingers, as that was the path of least resistance, giving her a "webbed finger" look. Actually...that might be helpful if she was trying to increase her speed underwater!

Chucking off her shoes Sakura spread her toes and formed chakra webs between them as well. Cool, next time she went swimming she would have to remember to test this.

Wanting to get back to her original intention Sakura stopped channeling chakra to her feet and sat cross legged again. Staring at her hands she really had to concentrate in order to get the chakra strings to disconnect and form blades again. Perhaps if she tried only one finger instead? She reabsorbed all blades except for the ones on each pointer finger. Sitting very still Sakura held her pointer fingers apart, leaving three inches between the blades.

After fifteen minutes she was able to extend the blades an extra half inch but they where still nowhere near touching. Feeling a sheen of sweat across her brow Sakura decided to stop for now and do some physical exercises instead. As she was doing her regiment of push ups Sakura recited the ingredients she would need to begin collecting for the tincture.

By the end of her training session Sakura was completely exhausted. Her way back to town was a slow walk, with her back against the setting sun. A cool breeze whipped the dirty hair from the back of her sweaty neck, bringing relief to her overheated form. She began humming a soft tune to fill the unnerving silence, just as she had done during her initial journey to Wind. Sakura couldn't even remember where she'd learned it, yet it was always the same old song that her mind replayed whenever it wandered.

Out of the corner of her eye Sakura saw a radiating green glow but when she turned to look she saw nothing.


	16. Evacuate

_Author: This chapter is dedicated to _Mameha,_ my first reviewer since chapter five_._ I could not respond to your review because you weren't logged in so I'm doing it here even though I don't usually include author notes in my stories. To answer your question, no I did not update chapters 6-15 all at once. I've been posting them one at a time, approximately one each week. Your review inspired me to write another chapter, a whole page and a half longer, two days after I last updated. Thank you very much for reviewing my story. Perhaps if more people left me reviews I would be inspired to write more frequently. *hint hint*_

_Please enjoy this chapter._

_(o)(o)(o)(o)(o)(o)_

Pein glanced around the room, all members where present except for two. "Where are Kakuzu and Hidan?" he calmly demanded.

No one answered because honestly no one knew. The whole situation was bizarre and tense. The Akatsuki had never gathered in person before, at least not all of them at once. That much power and testosterone in the same room was a recipe for disaster. Sure enough there where more than a few twitchy fingers and shifty eyes.

Just then the door burst open, Hidan strutting through like he owned the place.

"You're late." Pein stated, glaring disapproval as Kakuzu breezed in after his partner. They sat in the only empty chairs left and ignored the obvious statement, seemingly out of indifference.

"Why are we here." Itachi asked with no infliction to his voice.

"Our usual form of communication has been compromised" Pein informed them, referring to the spectral projection technique they favored. There had been a odd green light tinting their shadow images as of late, indication that someone was meddling and could also be listening in. "So for now we must meet in person, at least until Konan solves the issue." He glanced at the blue haired woman to his left who sat there silently and with no emotion.

"So what's so important then, yeah?" Deidara asked molding a tiny ball of clay between his fingers.

"Updates" Pein demanded. "Inform me on the status of your individual missions."

Kisame chuckled darkly. "That nine tailed brat is locked up tighter than a farmer's daughter on a Saturday night. Apparently his little pink haired girlfriend's gone missing so they put him on lock down. Ain't allowed to leave his own village and we can't get close enough without attracting an entire army of ninja. Itachi and I haven't been able to make any progress."

"Tighter than a farmer's daughter on a Saturday night?! That's the fucking best euphemism you could think of you blue hick bastard?! What a lame ass thing to say!" Hidan laughed.

"Glad to see you're following the conversation...albeit at your own pace..." Kakuzu rumbled.

"Fuck off stitches! I'm sick of your ancient ass!" Hidan bellowed, slamming a fist on the black marble table. He took another breath to continue his tirade but was interrupted by a polite knock at the door.

"Enter." Pein granted.

The hotel owner, a man with green hair and orange eyes, opened the door and was followed by a plump middle aged woman with a food cart.

"Evening gentlemen, our chef Shiri here has prepared your meal exactly as you requested. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do for you." the man offered, giving a bow.

The food was quickly dispensed in silence, after which the two non Akatsuki members humbly left.

There was a solid three minutes of peace, a new record.

"You fucking idiot!" Deidara screamed, "You're getting soup all over my cloak, yeah!" he was referring to Tobi who had grabbed a straw and was violently blowing bubbles into his miso.

Kakuzu muttered bitterly about high quality ingredients and how much this meal was going to cost them, pulling out a calculator. Meanwhile Deidara was trying to ring this sleeve out while Kisame was chewing loudly with his mouth open, food flying everywhere. This caused caused Konan's eye to twitch.

"This was a bad idea..." she softly advised.

"I've realized this." Pein concurred.

Itachi silently sipped his miso, Hidan was trying to mash his food into pulp, and Deidara was now chasing Tobi around the table.

The pandemonium was interrupted when Zetsu's fly trap encased form morphed out of a wall.

"W**hat a sorry sight...**_We didn't mean to be late._ **Obviously we didn't miss anything important.**"

Deidara released Tobi, who he had finally caught in a choke hold, and returned to his seat. The masked delinquent did so as well, scooting his chair just out of Deidara's arm range. Kakuzu looked up from his calculator, Hidan quit mashing all his food together and Kisame swallowed his current bite.

Itachi took a sip of red tea. "Lets recommence." he requested. No one was going to tell him that there where little particles of food in his hair from Kisame's out of control chewing.

"Precisely." Pein agreed, feeling the corner of his lip twitch. Konan stepped on his foot under the table. "Zetsu, lets hear your update."

"_We lost the kunoichi._** She's a slippery bitch. **_She's skilled at henge and we can no longer detect her chakra. _**We'll find her anyway, and then we'll eat her legs so she can't escape us again. **_No we won't."_

"Oh oh oh! Is Zetsu going to bring Tobi a new friend because he's been a good boy?!" Tobi squealed, kicking his legs back and forth like a child.

"No you haven't! You've been the most annoying fuck in the world, yeah!" Deidara griped, fondling a small explosive.

"At least yours can die. Care to trade?" Kakuzu offered, eyeing the immortal priest with disdain and scowling at the mashed up food he'd wasted. "That's coming out of your paycheck."

Hidan turned bright red and threw a wad of unappetizing mush at Kakuzu. It hit the miser's shoulder then plopped onto the floor. Kakuzu's reaction was to release his threads and spear Hidan through the abdomen, slamming him first into the table, creating a crater in the marble, then ramming him into the wall, causing the ceiling to crack and the building to shudder. Hidan was knocked unconscious and now there was blood splattered everywhere, which pretty much ruined everyone's appetite. Well...except for Zetsu's who had actually gotten hungrier at the gory sight.

Konan calmly set down her spoon and went to the door, reaching it just as there was an alarmed knock. She cracked the door open, not allowing the worried owner to see past her into the destroyed room.

"Ma'am...is...is everyone-"

"We thank you for your attentive service but we do not require anything at the moment." Konan stated coolly.

"Oh...alright then...please call me if-"

"We will not hesitate." she then shut the door in his face, placing a silencing jutsu over the room. Just in time as it happened to be the exact moment Hidan woke up.

YOU COCK SUCKING SON OF A WHORE! I'M GOING TO RIP OUT ALL FIVE OF YOUR HEARTS AND ROAST THEM OVER THIS FUCKING FIRE YOU BITCH! JASHIN DAMN ALL YOU ASSHOLES FOR YOUR HEATHEN WAYS! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU-"

Kakuzu used his threads to stuff Hidan's ruined dinner into his mouth before sewing it shut, then he bound the Jaganist's arms and legs.

"On with the meeting." Pein insisted as Konan retook her seat. "Deidara?"

"We got the damn sand brat what more do you want, yeah?" the blond asked, shoving away his plate.

"Tobi wants a new mission! Can we? Can we? Can we?" the orange masked nin begged, bouncing up and down.

"Shut up Tobi! Nobody asked you, yeah!" he didn't want another mission, his recently reattached arms felt like shit. There was no way he could create art with them yet, he thought, looking forlornly down at his closed palm mouths.

"Perhaps you can help Kisame and Itachi in luring the nine tails away from his village." Pein suggested.

"Unnecessary." Itachi immediately responded, breaking character with a small frown of displeasure.

"I'll give you another three months, after which I expect the mission to be complete or I'll have to reassign more members to collect the nine tails." Pein decreed. "Kakuzu, your report."

"The two tails won't be a problem. On our way to her location I have been gathering bounties so our progress has been...slightly delayed."

"As long as you meet the deadline I don't care." Pein remarked offhandedly. He didn't have to worry about Kakuzu, who was the most dependable member in his opinion. "I will now close this meeting with one final piece of informa-"

"TOBI YOU FUCKING IDIOT, YEAH!"

Apparently Tobi had decided it would be a good idea to use Hidan's blood to finger paint a swirl on Deidara's face so they could be "twins". Deidara was so enraged that he lobbed the explosive he'd been tinkering with at Tobi just as the masked nin's chair tipped over. Tobi's foot, swung up into the air as his chair fell onto it's back, kicked the explosive directly into the fireplace.

The Akatsuki had a total of two seconds to evacuate.

(o)(o)(o)(Across town)(o)(o)(o)

Sakura woke with a start, did she just feel an earthquake?

"Not again!" she groaned, realizing she could not remember the rest of her walk home or getting undressed and into bed. Sakura also felt the beginnings of her "post nightmare" headache, which was added upon with some "intense training with no cool down" muscle soreness.

Today promised to be a great day...sarcasm was never her thing.


	17. Time For Plan B

"Thank Kami you're here!" one of the maids exclaimed, lunging for her arm the second Sakura walked through the hotel doors. She was unceremoniously dragged past the front desk, down the hall, through the lobby and to the meeting room.

...or what was left of it.

Sakura gaped in bewilderment. The perfectly spotless extravagant room she had left just yesterday was reduced to a charred black hole of rubble.

"What happened here?!" she asked in alarm.

"It was the guests last night. They where the strangest people I've ever seen! All very tall men, wearing the same black and red cloaks. Shiri served them their dinner and then not too long after there was a huge explosion, like a bomb went off, and the whole building felt it. When we broke the door open none of them where inside, they simply disappeared!" one of the young maids told her, stooping down to gather more rubble.

"Yeah, and they left this huge mess for us to clean up." a grumpy older maid complained, clutching her aching back.

They turned to look at "Rakusa" who had been standing in the doorway only to see that she had disappeared as well.

(o)(o)(o)(back across town)(o)(o)(o)

Sakura bitch kicked her own door open and began to pack immediately. If the Akatsuki were in town she couldn't be. She would have to flee far far _far_ from here, switch her henge, change her alias and make up a whole new cover. There was no way such a close encounter was a matter of coincidence.

The Akatsuki were looking for her and she had to stay one step ahead of them.

No doubt they wanted her as bait for Naruto, or perhaps they where planning on torturing her for information about the Hokage. It didn't really matter, either situation was not pleasant to think about, thus her impromptu departure. Akina, her landlord, was going to be pissed at her sudden disappearance but there was nothing else she could do. Composing a short letter of apology Sakura picked up her pack and strode to the back door.

When she yanked it open there stood a man with a red and black cloak. He had a giant plant appendage on his shoulders and heterochromatic skin. They stood and stared into each others eyes for a few seconds before the Akatsuki opened his mouth, reveling two or three rows of needle sharp teeth, and spoke.

"_We found you kunoichi. _**You're coming with us bitch.**"

Sakura promptly slammed the door in his face.

"Fuck!"

There where only four exits to her apartment, the front door, the back door, the attic escape and a window in the living room. All of which would be watched for her attempts to flee. She had to think quickly, a door would not keep an Akatsuki, especially one that can phase through things, at bay for very long. She ran down the hall and shut that door, then she ran through the kitchen and shut that one as well. On her way to the bedroom she shut the bathroom and closet door, finally shutting herself in the bedroom. The more closed doors there where the longer he would be delayed looking for her.

She quickly dropped her henge and formed the necessary hand signs to summon one of Tsunade's larger slugs.

"Sakura-san, what can I do for you?" the large yellow and purple slug asked.

"Swallow me and dissipate. I need to escape someone." she instructed, curling herself into as tight a ball as possible before surrounding herself with a generous layer of chakra. The mucus Tsunade's slug summons secreted was extremely acidic and would eat away at her flesh if she didn't put a chakra barrier between her and the harmful substance. The slug slouched over and began to slowly swallow her, later to be regurgitated in a safe location. She was perhaps two thirds inside the slug before the door burst open.

"**Sneaky bitch!**_ You will not escape us._"

She felt something curl around her ankle, trying to pull her back out. It was either his vines or hand, either way it seemed not to be effected by the slug's acid slime. She would have to cut herself free.

Reaching to her pouch she pulled out a kunai and enforced it with chakra before swiping downward, successfully freeing herself from the Akatuski's grip. She heard his frustrated cry and a few choice swear words before she was completely engulfed, blanketing all her senses with darkness.

Sakura did not know how much time had passed. When you are encompassed within another living being all that exists is the heartbeat of the one carrying you. She found it was very therapeutic, like returning to the womb.

Eventually they reached whatever destination the slug summons deemed to be safe and the regurgitation process began. Upon contact with her chakra the acid mucus became a hard shell, the result being a vibrant green "Sakura egg" as Tsunade liked to call it. Punching a fist through this shell she emerged into what looked like a dense jungle.

"That was fucking nasty." she heard a female voice remark. Sakura swiveled around to find Anko sitting on a nearby boulder, regarding her with a disgusted look.

"Anko-san! What are you doing...er...where are we?" she asked, looking around at the dense jungle. Moss carpeted almost every surface, the air was humid, and thick vines hung from trees.

"This is the jungle where my snake summons live. Apparently the same goes for Hokage-sama's slugs and I wouldn't be surprised if Jiraya's toads do too. _I've_ been here on an extended training trip, what's _your_ business here?"

Sakura paused, nobody knew of her fake defection other than her shishou, presumably Shizune and herself. If she told Anko it might put her, or even both of them, in danger.

"I was on a mission and got attacked. I escaped with the help of Tsunade-sama's summons, who brought me here." she replied. It was all truth...just without context.

"Well I was just taking a quick break. Gotta get back to my training now, you're welcome to watch just don't get in my way." Anko said, standing up with a stretch and walking away.

Sakura grabbed her pack and sat down on the recently vacated boulder, thanking the slug as it slowly crawled up a tree. Her heart was beating fast, still in shock from the near capture she'd escaped. What the hell was she going to do now? Akatsuki were after her and she was way in over her head. Sakura had to assume that the chakra signature following her on her way to Kokata had been the green cannibalistic Akastuki known as Zetsu. Marveling at how she had evaded him for this long Sakura took a look at the ankle he had entrapped and gasped.

Around her ankle was a severed hand.

"Ew ew ew ew ew!" she cried, grabbing a stick and prying it off. It was already stiff for some reason so it took a few tries. Once it was off of her she took a closer look at the cut off wrist, not noticing any blood.

"Interesting...what the hell _is_ this guy?" she whispered to herself, using the stick to flip the hand over to inspect the other side. Whatever combination of "plant-man" he was, this was definitely more than just human. Her interest was peaked, from a medical standpoint of course, so she preserved the detached hand in a scroll to study on a cellular level at a later date. When she would get the time, who really knew. Maybe when she wasn't being_ hunted_ by the Akatsuki anymore... Perhaps it was time for plan B...


	18. Shark Bite

After asking Anko for directions Sakura departed the jungle, heading south towards the ocean. Now she stood on the beach, toes in the water and a kunai in her hand. Very carefully she deliberately slit her wrist to draw blood, infusing it with chakra and letting it flow into the water. After a sufficient amount was spilled she healed the cut, not even leaving a faint scar. She was trying to attract the attention of the most dangerous meat eating predator of the ocean. A shark.

More specifically a nin shark.

Beside her was the barrel with the small shark she'd gotten from Joji's fish market. It was her bargaining chip. She didn't have to wait long before the dorsal fin of an extremely large shark came into view, getting closer and closer. When the fin stopped advancing she lifted her foot and tapped out a message on the surface of the water, telling the shark she was friendly and wanted to return something in exchange for a favor.

The shark responded by lifting it's head out of the water and gazing at her with it's black pit eyes. They eyed each other for a long time, the silence becoming heavy. Some summons could talk and some could not, she wasn't sure about sharks. They seemed intelligent, but that didn't always translate into friendly. To hopefully make her intentions clearer she reached into the barrel and grabbed the small shark, holding it up in clear sight.

"Where are you to travel ninjen?" came the shark's barely understandable voice. So they could talk, apparently just didn't prefer to.

"I wish to reach the other continent." she told the nin shark.

"I can not take you that far myself, but others can meet us half way and carry you the second half of the journey. They may ask a favor of you in return."

"Agreed, as long as I stay whole and in possession of all my limbs." Sakura chuckled.

She tossed the small shark into the water. It sped towards the other, doing happy laps around it's much larger counterpart. Making sure she had all her belongings in a water proof scroll she began wading into the waves. She swam out to the massive shark and latched onto it's dorsal fin, securing her hold with a little bit of chakra.

"Just so you know, the longest I can hold my breath is five minutes." Sakura thought to mention as they began their journey. The shark didn't respond, but she was sure it had heard her by the slight pitying shake of it's head.

From then on all Sakura could do was listen to the water ripple around them and try not to fall asleep. It was extremely hard, especially after the fifth hour of nothing else to do.

Also she was getting hungry.

"Is there anyway we can stop so I can eat?" she asked.

The shark raised it's head to speak. "There is a small island slightly off path, we can detour there, but it will add an hour to our journey."

"I'm fine with it if you are. Maybe just a half an hour break so we can both rest."

"Very well. In exchange you will kill a large land mammal for me. It is rare that we get to eat such creatures."

"Sounds good to me." Sakura agreed, noticing their slight change in direction.

They never made it.

Half way to the island the waves surrounding them began to grow and become more tumultuous. Sakura was having a hard time keeping her head above the water and she could tell they were no longer making progress. Then there appeared a gigantic wave of unnatural proportions and Sakura got a horrible feeling, knowing it had to be jutsu created.

There was only one Akatsuki she knew of that could create such a massive wave, and he looked very much like her current guide. As if her thoughts had summoned him the shark nin known as Kisame appeared from the wave to mock her.

"Going somewhere kunoichi?" he chuckled.

"DIVE!" Sakura had to scream to be heard over the crashing waves and her nin shark did so almost immediately.

Surely drowning would be a much better method to die compared to whatever the Akatsuki had in mind for her?

Under the ocean she was not able to see or hear anything, so Sakura concentrated her efforts on viciously holding on. A couple of times she was slammed into, presumably by other summoned sharks on Kisame's side, or by the Akatsuki himself. Either way she successfully maintained her almost vicious grip on both her belongings and to her host for a total of five full minutes.

Unfortunately this was not the type of battle which was either won or lost in that short of a time span.

Quickly losing coherency she tried to signal her nin shark that it needed to surface so she could breath. After sending numerous waves of urgent chakra to the shark nothing changed, meaning her message was not being understood or the surfacing was simply not possible. After a few moment she was no longer able to hold on, feeling unconsciousness starting to creep over her. Her hold broke, sending her semi limp body into an endless drift. This was it. This was how Haruno Sakura was going to die.

_Well...At least the Akatsuki hadn't gotten a hold of her and no harm would come to her village...__**Fuck that! This sucks! What a stupid way for us to die. **__Inner? Oh sure, __now__ you show up._

In the next second something clamped onto her left leg and began to drag her through the water at a deliberately faster pace. It dug into her leg, drawing blood and seemed to cause a ridiculous amount of pain to her clouded mind. It wasn't until the second before she passed out that it finally clicked, it was a shark bite. She hoped the shark would not deliver her to Kisame and would instead eat her quickly. That was her final thought before she once again lost consciousness.


	19. Oubliette

Something wet was dripping on her face.

_plop...plop...plop..._

It was dark here. Wait, that was just because she had her eyes closed. She opened them. Yep, still dark.

Dark and wet and cold. Definitely in some kind of cave. She kicked her legs a little, felt them swish around in some water and a sharp pain shoot up her left leg.

Wait...she smelled blood. Was it hers?

Trying to sit up was a bad idea, the room was spinning out of control. She was so disorientated...and more than a little nauseous. In fact...

"Bllllauuugh!" Sakura was very proud to have managed to turn on her side just in time. Vomiting while laying on your back, into your own face, and then choking on it was never fun. She knew from experience after a couple of unplanned wilder than wild nights out with Ino.

"Where the fuck am I?" she croaked, looking around and only seeing black shadows against a slightly lighter gray backdrop. Sakura did an army crawl so at least her bottom half wasn't hanging over some kind of ledge into the water.

Ah...dry land. At least as dry as a damp musty cave could get.

She checked her chakra reserves, no good. Perhaps twelve percent at most, which she needed to save in order to generate heat. Or if her injury was really bad, to prevent infection.

It was hell dragging herself over to the cave wall and summoning the strength to sit up, but somehow she managed. Performing a very low level chakra probe she was relieved to find that her injury was not infected and was only skin deep. Hefting herself to her feet was the next step.

It took her an agonizing twenty minutes.

She stood there gasping, one hand firmly placed on the rock wall to her left. Even though her leg hurt it didn't pain her any more to walk than it did to just sit there. So walk she did. She walked...and walked...and walked...and walked some more.

It seemed like she had been walking for an eternity. An ridiculously slow pace for a ninja. So slow the elderly would have been doing laps around her.

Then she saw something that made her stop. There, just a few feet away, were two blood red sharingan staring back at her. Kisame's partner had apparently come to pick up his slack.

"Do not attempt to escape." he commanded in an undeniably sexy baritone. Damn those perfect Uchiha genes.

She didn't try to escape, realizing that she couldn't. Not this time. There was a long silence where they simply looked at each other. Or rather he pinned her with his eyes as she looked into the darkness slightly to the side of his deadly gaze.

"Well your _buddies_ seemed to want me really desperately so come get me already." Sakura huffed, having little energy to tolerate his mind games any longer. Akatsuki wanted her captured alive so he couldn't respond to her sass by making her a bleeding pile of bruised flesh. She heard him softly exhale, as if he was disappointed, and begin to approach her.

"You are under our control now."

"Our? You mean you that fish face?" she played dumb.

"Akatsuki's."

Now he was standing right in front of her, a dark form whose only telling feature where the blood red eyes which kept her practically paralyzed from fear.

"If you do not struggle we will not harm you in transportation. Come."

He effortlessly breezed past her, beginning a slow steady pace which she still struggled to follow. He was always at least two or three feet in front of her, which was good because then Sakura knew where it was safe to walk. Before she'd had a few unhappy encounters with slippery patches of rock and small stalagmites. Their walk continued for at least an hour in silence, him leading her seemingly deeper into the cave. At last they reached a partially crumbled wall. Sakura watched in indignation as Itachi somehow fit neatly through the minuscule opening. He could even make _that_ look graceful.

"...Yeah, I'm not made of perfection so I can't do that."she scoffed. She heard a soft sigh from the other side of the wall before it abruptly came tumbling down. Alarmed, Sakura was just barely able to dodge the falling rubble, still getting smacked on the shoulder with a sizable rock.

"Ooof!" she huffed, all the air leaving her lungs as she fell down harshly. Once the dust settled she saw him standing on the other side of the half decimated wall. He simply raised one brow at her tumbled over form, wide eyed and legs half buried under the debris he'd almost crushed her with.

"Listen, I'm practically out of chakra and my leg is badly injured so I can't move that quickly. If you want me to stay alive may I suggest you warn me _before_ you start demolition?" Sakura grouched, pushing the rubble off to stand up and rub a hand over her bruised shoulder and bottom. She was going to be all kinds of sore tomorrow.

If she lived to see that day.

His response was to simply narrow his eyes at her and turn to continue their journey. On the other side of the wall was a man made room of circular proportions. There was even a source of light beaming down from the ceiling far above.

"What is this place?" she whispered, more to herself, climbing over the half wall to stand inside the room.

"An oubliette." was his unexpected response.


	20. Baby Eater

An oubliette is a well-like dungeon, often hidden in the deepest cellar of a castle, where prisoners where discarded. The only exit was the trap door high up above in the ceiling. Which meant that, unless you could climb the completely vertical walls with the help of chakra, the prisoner was doomed to suffer the remainder of their life at the bottom of the pit. Sometimes, if the suffering was meant to be prolonged, servants slung down buckets of half rotten food scraps so that the prisoners would live longer. It was a terrible place, almost haunting, and she had to sidestep many skeletal remains in order to reach the others side of the chamber. Sakura followed Itachi up the wall and out of the trap door, releasing a breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding. They made their way in silence through the castle, up some stairs, down numerous hallways and out the front door.

Where Kisame was waiting for them.

"Hey there you little tart. Missed you earlier, glad you could join us." he grinned. A wide, toothy, razor sharp grin.

Sakura stopped in her tracks, not necessarily shrinking back but certainty halting all advancement towards the giant blue Akatsuki who looked like he was going to eat her.

"Kisame." came Itachi's warning tone. It was subtle, but still recognizable.

Kisame burst into laughter. "Relax you two. I've got something special planned for dinner. Wouldn't want to ruin my appetite."

With that being said they headed out, Itachi in front with his eyes on the lookout and Kisame behind her to make sure she wasn't stupid enough to try and escape. They traveled in deafening silence for the rest of the day. She suspected they only stopped shortly before sunset due to the fact that Sakura's pace unbelievably slowed even more due to how heavily she was limping.

"Wheres all the fight in ya now?" Kisame taunted as she slumped beside a tree, using it as a support so she wouldn't fall face down in exhaustion. She was panting hard and her left leg was throbbing in agony. He chakra was at an all time low and her stomach was cramping painfully since she had never gotten to eat anything on that island due to Kisame's attack. In fact, now that she remembered, the last time she ate was one lousy soldier pill shortly after getting directions from Anko and leaving the jungle.

When she tuned back into what the two Akatsuki where doing she noticed that Kisame was building a fire and Itachi was busy setting a series of complicated genjutsu traps around the perimeter of their resting place. She watched them warily, eventually gaining her breath back but still unable to do anything about the gut wrenching hunger or the throbbing leg.

And then she saw Kisame pull something out of his pack.

"Hey...that's mine." she protested weakly, watching him tauntingly twirl her storage scroll dangerously close to the newly built fire. He'd obviously stolen it in their earlier encounter, probably while she was too busy drowning to notice.

"Whatcha got in here that's so important little tart?" Kisame chuckled.

"My med kit for one." she responded, looking pointedly at her injured leg.

"Bah, just rub some dirt in it. You crybaby." he scoffed but tossed her the scroll.

Itachi intercepted it, giving Kisame a stoic look.

"Does your stupidity have no bounds?" he asked coolly. "First check it for weapons." Within seconds he had the contents of her scroll laid out in front of him. He confiscated her extra shuriken, metal trap wire, a few explosive tags and a bundle of senbon. He tossed the scroll with it's remaining contents to her.

She reached for her med kit immediately, thankful he hadn't taken her bandage scissors. She would need them.

As efficiently as possible she began to treat her wounds. She started with an application of alcohol to disinfect the area, removed a few foreign shards with a pair of tweezers, sewed up a particularly deep gash, coated the area with antibiotic ointment and finally wrapped it with clean bandages. She didn't think this was interesting at all but the entire time Sakura could feel Kisame's beady black eyes drinking in her every movement.

"Do you not possess eyelids? Or is that another trait you share with your shark summons?"

"What?!" Kisame roared, looking like he was about to reach for his sword.

"Kisame." came Itachi's ever cool voice, "You mentioned dinner." The rest didn't have to be said, it was clear that Kisame had better get cooking.

_Ha! I know who wears the pants in this partnership. Brains of brawn, every time._

Her smugness didn't last long, for as soon as Itachi mentioned dinner Kisame got this really vindictive grin on his face. He was definitely planning something.

Shortly later Sakura realized what it was when he pulled out the baby shark that she'd found in Joji's fish market.

He was roasting it over the fire, giving her taunting looks as if he was cooking her beloved pet. Honestly she couldn't care, she had no attachment to the creature, however just the fact that he would do such a thing, cook and eat something she possibly held dear, sent a shiver up her spine at his cruel inhumaneness.

So naturally, to cover up her unease, she cracked a joke.

"Should have realized there would be at least one cannibal in Akatsuki." she said offhandedly, taking the portion he handed her and bit into it while maintaining fierce eye contact.

The shark man looked like he was about to start yelling again but Itachi passively cleared his throat. Kisame grit his teeth and moved on to hand Itachi his portion.

"Baby eater." Sakura muttered, digging into the meal which she hated to admit tasted quite good.


	21. Spreading Rumors

The next morning Sakura felt much better. She had treated her wounds, ate something and rested. Her chakra was slowly replenishing, in fact she was pushing fifteen percent by the time they headed out. They traveled in the same manner, Itachi then her and finally Kisame, until noon when they stopped by a small creek to rest and eat. They traveled the rest of the day and into the night, keeping a steady pace. Sakura occupied her mind with thoughts of the poison and it's illusive antidote. The information packet hadn't been damaged or confiscated, still tucked away in her bra lining disguised as a coin, so all she needed was some alone time to peruse it's relation to the tincture Shizune and her shishou had developed. However alone time was nowhere near possible with these two around, she would have to also think up an escape plan.

The problem was they took turns with night watch, so there was no ability to slip away during the night. In addition, because of they formation they took while traveling, she could not attempt anything during the day either. She knew Kisame could easily be tricked but Itachi was a prodigy genius and slipping by his all seeing sharingan was impossible. What she had to do was figure out a way to be left alone with Kisame, and also a way to trick the big blue bastard into lowering his guard so she could make a break for it. However Itachi was not just watchful of her, but of Kisame as well. This was no doubt a result of Kisame's blatant animosity towards her. Simply put, it was a no brainier that if she and Kisame were left alone there would likely be damage done to her person. Which would in turn jeopardize Sakura's usefulness towards whatever purpose they needed her for. Therefore Itachi was very careful to remain present at all times, making her mission to evade him all the harder.

_If I was Itachi Uchiha, what would distract me the most?_ She thought. Then it came to her. _Sasuke._

However there were several flaws with this plan. One, if Sakura pretended to be Sasuke he would see through her genjutsu in a second. Two, she had no way to summon the real Sasuke to this location even if she knew where he was.

Then again...

Sasuke didn't have to_ really_ be there, even the possibility of him in the vicinity would hopefully spur Itachi to go off and investigate. So all she really needed to do was create a rumor that would somehow circle back to them...

So that night, after making the excuse that she needed to attend to some womanly business, she knelt down to summon a small slug.

"What can I do for you Sakura-Hime?"

"I need you to henge yourself into a human form and contact someone either in a nearby village or traveling in my direction. Tell them to be wary of a dangerous dark haired man with red eyes who is traveling with three other ninja." she said. "Make it convincing, maybe appear injured and in a panic like he just attacked you." The slug nodded and poofed away to complete it's task.

"KUNOICHI! What was that chakra flair just now?!" she heard Kisame yell.

"I'm taking care of some menstrual cramps! That alright with you tuna breath?!" she shouted back.

Sakura smirked when all that greeted her in return was an awkward silence.

Some ninja such as the Inuzuka had a heightened sense of smell therefore, as Sakura wasn't certain if Kisame could actually detect blood like a shark could, she made a cut on her upper thigh. After blotting and bandaging the shallow wound she returned to their camp to see both Akatsuki sitting around the fire blatantly avoiding her gaze.

_Why are all men, no matter how powerful, so awkward when it comes to normal female bodily functions?_

They ate dinner, a thin tasteless gruel like affair, and went to bed. Sakura had a hard time falling asleep because of nerves and also Kisame's ridiculously loud snoring.

It wasn't until mid morning when her plan bared fruit. They were walking along a lesser traveled path when they heard civilian footsteps approaching. Being the two odd looking pair Kisame grabbed Sakura and hid just beyond the treeline, out of sight but still able to see Itachi. Itachi flipped his cloak inside out so it was merely black instead of showing the red cloud pattern.

The people who approached included a middle aged man, his wife and three children. They looked to have been on the road for a while, maybe even nomads. Sakura watched as Itachi met with the man in the middle of the road. There was no indication of Itachi's interest being peaked, however by the way the other man shifted his weight back and forth she could tell he was nervous. Why? Well probably because he had been warned about a dangerous dark haired man with red eyes and was facing one right now. Then again it could just be Itachi's overall unnerving presence.

The interaction only lasted a few minutes, the family giving Itachi small bows and continuing on their journey. Once they where out of sight Kisame nudged her forward to join Itachi on the road again.

"What was that?" the blue shark man asked.

"I have a personal matter to attend to. I will return in one day. Make sure she does not escape and do not harm her." and with that he strode off into the woods.

It would seem her plan had worked, at least the first half of it. Which was good because that had honestly been the harder part. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to trick this overgrown tuna head.

"Keep walking little tart. He'll catch up when he's ready." Kisame grumbled, seemingly put out that he was not allowed to mutilate her. Or maybe he was more bothered by someone half his age and size bossing him around. Either way they traveled for the rest of the day in sulky silence, Kisame brooding and Sakura planning. When it came time to stop Kisame informed her that they would fish for their dinner, much to Sakura's relief as she was tired of the watery gruel. Together they sat on the edge of a shallow stream, fishing poles in hand and eyes trained on the water. She found the situation to be sort of humorous, having envisioned him swimming through the water and catching the fish in his jagged teeth like a real shark. But no, here sat this hulking mass of a deadly Akatsuki shark nin, calmly fishing of all things.

What made the situation even funnier was that he kind of sucked at it too. Sakura thought this as she pulled her third fish from the water while he still hadn't caught his first. Perhaps her unspoken humor had been a little too palpable because the next second he struck.


	22. Flying Squirrel

"The hell?" she exclaimed, barely dodging his huge sword.

"You mock me!" he growled.

"I didn't even say anything!" she protested, evading another swipe. Sakura was forced up against a tree which scratched her back up rather badly. He held the deadly sword inches from her neck, glaring at her immobile form. As the seconds passed Sakura could feel what little chakra she had seeping away until she was once again left with practically nothing. There was a tense moment of silence where he apparently decided not to risk Itachi's wrath and backed up slowly.

"Cook the fish little tart." he commanded, tossing her a dull kunai and turning his back to her. It was an insult to turn your back on an armed shinobi, no matter what state they were in, and Sakura recognized the insult immediately. Still, she scrambled to collect the fish and began to prepare them, not wanting to provoke the obviously unstable Akatsuki member while his handler was not around. After dinner her back began to really bother her. The shredded fabric was sticking to the half congealed blood which was causing no small amount of itching.

"I need to wash my back or it'll get infected." she stated. They where sitting around a fire and he glanced up to look at her. He was unnaturally tense and his eyes were widely dilated...That kind of freaked her out...Who knew what instincts he was currently fighting. Was it a reaction to the scent of her blood?

"Go rinse off then, but don't take long."

With his permission she grabbed her storage scroll and slipped through the trees. Back at the shallow stream Sakura removed her clothes and waded into the water to wash. It was difficult to reach around and clean her back so after several failed attempts she merely stood with her back to the current. Once the water no longer flowed pink she retreated back to land to don her clothes, including a fresh shirt. She checked her chakra reserves and found that after the meager meal they where slowly on the build once more. She now had enough to circulate throughout her whole body and extend two or three inches past her skin. For battle it wasn't enough but...

Sakura stared down at her fingers and webbed them with her chakra just as she had been training to do. Then she glanced a the shallow stream. It would be just enough.

When Kisame had zapped away all of Sakura's chakra he had given her an unforeseen advantage. Her chakra was so low that her signature was not noticeable even at this short a distance. She could slip into the water and use her chakra webbed hands and feet to travel at an accelerated speed downstream. In approximately the half hour it would take for Kisame to grow suspicious and come looking for her she would already have traveled far enough to get a head start.

Wasting not a second more Sakura plunged back into the water and began streamlining her way to freedom. As predicted, thirty seven minutes later, she felt Kisame's chakra spike in anger and his signature begin to follow. In response she lept out of the water, removing his advantage there, and continued on foot. Sakura cursed herself at underestimating his speed, for he quickly covered the ground between them and was hot on her trail. However his hulking form was awkward and hard to maneuver among the dense trees while her slim lighter figure swung between them with ease. He got pretty close, but never close enough to get a hold of her. There were a few instances where he managed to take a viable swing at her but she avoided those close calls by scaling a tree rather than weaving through them.

Then Sakura was driven to the end of her rope. Or in this case a cliff, to be quite literal.

"Give up now tart and I'll only break one of your legs." Kisame growled. He blocked off the only escape, leaving her with two options; leaping to a painful death or being recaptured...which when she thought about it also held a high chance of painful death.

Thus, being true to her contrary nature, she lept off the edge of the cliff just to spite Kisame.

The wind whipped Sakura's hair violently as she began free falling, having little control over her course of decent. If she didn't do something soon she would be reduced to a bloody smear at the bottom of the cliff. Therefore Sakura funneled all remaining chakra into her arms and legs to create a larger scale version of the chakra web. This time, instead of simply webbing between her fingers, the chakra strings extended from her wrists to her ankles so that she could coast on the updraft like a flying squirrel.

"You got to be fucking kidding me!" she heard Kisame yell in frustration but also no small amount of amusement. Sakura was well aware of how ridiculous her retreat must look.

_Doesn't matter. I would rather be alive and ridiculous looking than dead._

The updraft took her quite a distance. So far in fact that the cliff, with a tiny blue speck at the top, was miniaturized on the horizon. Lacking the experience to land Sakura instead folded her arms and legs to swoop down and catch a treetop in passing. Several treetops later her acceleration was slowed enough that she could collide relatively unharmed with the utmost branch of a sturdy willow. She looked back at the cliff.

Yup. He was still there.

Scrambling down the willow Sakura quickly found herself back on land. She knew better than to assume she was safe just yet. What she really needed to do was hide, remain in the forest among the dense trees to avoid detection. With that thought Sakura patted her hip pouch to make sure her storage scroll was still in place before continuing deeper into the forest on foot.

This time she vowed to really disappear off the map. _Entirely._


	23. Instant Regret

"Shhh...this way" a little blonde haired girl whispered to her friend. The brown haired boy behind her reached back to grab the hand of a green eyed girl who was the last of their group.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" the little boy asked. "My mom says you shouldn't disturb forest spirits or they'll curse you."

"Yeah" piped in the green eyed girl "That's why it's important to respect nature and leave the spirits alone. Some will even come after you if they see you spying on them. I think we should go back."

"So all the others can call us chicken?" the blond haired girl scoffed. "No way! Come on, the cave is just a little bit farther. We'll just take a quick look inside and then go back."

"I'm not going in!" cried the green eyed girl. She clutched at the boys hand and looked at him for reassurance "Don't go in! You'll stay with me won't you?" Her eyes warmed when she saw him nod.

The blond haired girl saw the boy silently agree and scowled. "Fine, I'll go in by myself you big babies."

Together the three children continued off path to a secluded part of the forest, some miles from the small village they grew up in. There had been stories of restless spirits in this part of the woods. People talked of animal carcasses being found without their insides, weird green lights and some even claimed to have heard the spirits singing. The entire populace of the small village, being very superstitious, hence forbade everyone from traveling this far into the woods.

So naturally forbidding something to children would only result in their heightened curiosity and deliberate disobedience. Which was why these three, currently fulfilling a mean spirited dare, found themselves creeping closer to the particular cave where said spirits where rumored to reside.

"There it is" the little brown haired boy whispered once a small clearing and the cave finally came into view. All three of them remained crouched in some bushes about fifty feet from it's entrance.

"That's it?" the blond girl said indignantly, not impressed with the overall normality of the cave entrance. Where where the piles of skeletons and gruesome blood paintings on the walls? Just as she was about to open her mouth to exclaim her disappointment there came a soft noise from within the cave. It was a tune of some sort, soft, beckoning and actually quite lovely.

Then, very suddenly, a spider of gargantuan proportions stepped into the clearing. It was at least ten feet tall with incredibly long hairy legs and a body about the size of a small house. The blonde girl gasped but was otherwise so afraid that sound could not escape her. The boy quickly clamped a hand over the green eyed girls mouth just as she began to shriek in terror. They watched on bated breath as the spider took no notice of them, continuing it's way towards the cave.

"L-lets get o-outta h-here!" the blonde girl stuttered, almost tripping over herself in haste. The boy and green eyed girl where already several steps ahead of her. Unfortunately their clumsy retreat was halted when a cloaked figure stepped in front of them.

"Oh my, what are you little ones doing so far out here in the forest? Don't you know it's rather dangerous around these parts?" came a woman's voice.

The three children huddled together, the boy pushing both girls behind him in a protective gesture.

"Are you lost little ones?" the cloaked woman asked. The only part exposed was her lower face which curled into a grin.

The children all nodded, not sure what to make of this woman standing in front of them.

"With it being so close to supper I imagine you're also very hungry aren't you?" the woman hummed, approaching them with slow strides. "Come on over to my place and I'll fix you up to eat." she offered, ushering the children with her hands. They had no choice but to obey, not even noticing the spider which had crawled out of the cloak's cuff to scuttle up the woman's sleeve and disappear into her hood.

_(o)(o)(o)(in a different part of the forest)(o)(o)(o)_

Sakura had been working on the poison for about a month now. It was difficult to do with only her chakra and what the forest could provide her. She made notes on the back of Shizune sempai's information packet using a bird feather and ink made from soot. The good news was that the ingredients for the organic tincture, which Shizune and Tsunade had developed could be found in the immediate area. However this was merely a method to slow down the persons heart and lung functions until they could be transported to a hospital.

An antidote was yet to be found, but not for lack of trying. Whoever had made this poison was one crafty son of a bitch.

Sakura reached and scratched her back. Ever since Kisame had slammed her against that tree it bothered her. She suspected it was some kind of infection or allergic reaction. She would heal it only for the irritation and bumps to return the very next morning. Without a mirror or a large body of still water it was impossible for her to look at. Despite this she could still feel that there where multiple bumps and the skin was flaking away. Thankfully there was no pus, but it was still damn irritating.

Two days ago Sakura woke up with an epiphany. The poisonous gas was made of primarily plant materials but also had chakra and a semi sentient quality. There was only one other being like this, to her knowledge at least, and she had come in direct contact with.

_Zetsu!_

If anybody could infuse a poison made of plants with their chakra it would have to be the plant man right? It was so obvious now, the poison totally had his name all over it! Sakura couldn't believe she hadn't figured this out sooner. So there she was with the severed hand of the plant man in front of her. Despite it's age there was no deterioration, a likely sign that she was on the right track. Sakura was probing the tissue with her chakra to determine it's composition but was not having much luck. Things where much easier in a lab where there was access to scalpels and microscopes as well as chemicals to test reactions.

She was quite focused on the task at hand (pun intended) when she heard the bushes to her right rustle faintly. She turned to look, there was nothing. Sakura kept her eyes trained in the direction of the noise for a few minutes. After there where no reoccurring sounds or movements she reached out with her chakra senses to see if there where any detectable signatures. Bingo. There was one chakra signature, definitely a shinobi, but not strong enough to be an Akatsuki. Sakura stood and faced the direction of the chakra signature.

"Show yourself!" she commanded, then instantly regretted it.


	24. Returning Dreams

Sakura was ok with bugs. She'd treated many Aburame at the hospital before, so bugs didn't really bother her. Really, what kind of kunoichi would she be if she couldn't handle few creepy crawlies? Well centipedes _did_ kind of freak her out, but that was the only exception. So spiders where just fine, especially since they helped control the mosquito population in the summer. Yup, Sakura didn't mind a couple of spiders every once in a while.

Except when they're ten feet tall with dripping fangs.

"Uh..." was all she managed to get out before the spider shot a web at her. Sakura dodged just in time so it stuck to the rock she had been sitting on, ripping it right out of the ground. She scrambled to pick up Zetsu's severed hand and her storage scroll, narrowly missing a second web. Sakura lept back, evading several more streams of web, but didn't notice the spider's true intentions.

By the time she realized the giant spider was boxing her in, surrounding the ground around her in sticky web, it was too late. Sakura attempted to walk across the web by enhancing her feet with chakra but all that happened was that her sandals got stuck. Wonderful. Now she was barefoot. Whatever the web was composed of it seemed impenetrable to chakra. Sakura wondered if exploding tags would have worked, cursing Itachi for confiscating hers.

She looked around for another escape, maybe a low branch. There was one just to her right! She kicked the ground with chakra and swung up only to be knocked back down by one of the spiders exceedingly long hairy legs. In retaliation she swiped at that leg, severing it completely. The spider stomped around a bit, clearly in pain, but otherwise did not give her any openings to exploit.

Well, she couldn't go around or up so the only other option was down. In the next moment she was forming hand signs for a jutsu that would allow her to travel underground. Sakura submerged herself in the earth, feeling the vibrations of the spider walking around above her. After a while the vibrations faded with the spider's retreat, no doubt off to try and find somebody else to eat.

Sakura popped her head out of the ground to make sure the coast was clear before completely reemerging. She noticed that the limb she had severed was missing...did the spider eat it's own detached leg or was it smart enough to take it with? Strange, but not really any of her concern. She needed to relocate to another part of the forest, you know, where there weren't spiders bigger than houses trying to eat her.

(o)(o)(o)(two days later)(o)(o)(o)

Sakura finally settled in a small cave about fifty miles away from her previous camp. It took her two days traveling on foot through dense forest. It would have gone a lot faster is she wasn't adamant about not using high levels of chakra to avoid detection. It was quite tiresome restraint to commit to and her chakra built up in a restless current at not being used like it normally would. This left her somewhat antsy and as if to further torment her the itching of her back seemed to increase every day. It got so bad that she resorted to traveling topless just so the fabric of her shirt would not aggravate the bumps any further. If she encountered anybody they would no doubt faint in dead shock at finding a topless, twitchy, feral looking woman roaming this deep in the woods. The thought brought a smirk to her face.

Her cave was very shallow, only extending about nine feet into the rock wall, which was just fine with her. It was enough space for Sakura to build a small fire and lay down, all that was really needed. It was infinitely better than her previous encounter with the seemingly endless dark twisting caves and a red eyed Uchiha, that was for sure. Aiming to camouflage the cave entrance she lashed some branches together in a grid pattern then hung hunks of long dead grass from each horizontal pole to form a makeshift door. Once her shelter was secured Sakura plopped down and rested, back to one of the cool cave walls. Ahhh...that felt good against the irritated skin of her back...Her feet ached too, traversing the dense forest barefoot was painful and had left her with countless small scratches. Another thing she would have to tend to unless she wanted it to get infected. At the moment Sakura felt quite shitty. She mentally checked off all the things wrong with her. Dirty matted hair, greasy face, sweaty body, hairy underarms, inflamed (possibly disfigured by now) back, no shirt, sweat crusted pants, no shoes and scraped up dirty bleeding feet. Not to mention she was severely dehydrated and suffering from hunger cramps.

At the moment she would likely sell her own soul for a meal, hot bath and some first aid treatment.

Kami her back was _killing _her!What the _hell _was going on back there?!

She fell asleep shorty after, waking to the pre dawn glow. There was something wrong however. It was quiet, too quiet. The kind of quiet that signals a predator nearby. She looked around.

She was no longer in the cave she'd laid down in.

"Fuuuuuck..." she whispered, glancing at her unfamiliar surroundings. Sakura hadn't slept-walked in a while, she had hoped it was just a passing phase brought about by the initial stress of becoming a missing nin. In her current situation sleepwalking was extremely dangerous. She could walk right in the Akatsuki's open arms and not even know it! What kind of ninja sleepwalks anyway?

But, deep down, Sakura knew it wasn't really "sleepwalking".

If she had a tendency to sleepwalk then such a habit would have manifested at an early age. It was genetic trait and no one else in her family had it. Sudden instances of sleepwalking among adults was, from a medical standpoint, unheard of. To make matters worse Sakura had a sinking feeling that whatever was spurring her unconscious self to walk off had to do with the night terrors she'd been trained into suppressing. Though she didn't like to admit it the sleepwalking was likely a sign the dreams where returning. She did strongly remember waking up in cold sweats, shivering all over, and screaming for her parents to come and save her.

She prayed it wouldn't get that bad again. Perhaps it was time to contact her shishou...


	25. Wild Thing

Tsunade was startled out of a boredom induced nap when a small slug poofed into existence. Jerking upright she saw the small messenger squelch it's way closer.

"Tsunade-sama." It greeted, bending it's eye stalks in respect.

"You bring news from my apprentice?" she asked, skipping right to the point.

"Yes Tsunade-sama. It's quite troubling."

The slug then proceed to tell the blonde sannin about Sakura being driven from her secret location due to the Akatsuki finding her. Tsunade was brought up to date on Sakura's encounter with Anko, attempt to flee across the sea and her brief capture. Included in the message were details of her apprentices "visions", ailing back and instances of sleepwalking.

"Do you bring _any _good news?!" Tsunade exclaimed, having grown increasingly worried as the slug continued to list the series of devastating events that had befallen her apprentice.

The slug shrank back a little, intimated by her aggravation, but finally recited the little bit of good news it was given.

"Sakura-hime did mention she's been developing a new skill...one that involves weaving chakra. Oh, and she has strong suspicions that the respiratory poison was created by the Akatsuki member named Zetsu."

"Is that all?" the blonde raised her eyebrow, hoping there was more. Information on this Zetsu character perhaps or the proposed beginnings to an antidote yet to be found.

"No. She gave no further details. Only a request that I return with your advice on what she should do next."

"Did she reveal her location to you?" the Hokage pressed.

"I do not know her exact location, only that she was hiding deep in the woods."

Tsunade sat back in thought, her apprentice was suffering from some sort of infection on her back and deep psychological stress. It would be impossible for her to help if she didn't have direct access to Sakura in order to examine both ailments.

Her eyes drifted back to the slug awaiting it's orders in a little puddle of slime. One downside to slug summons, there was always a little mess involved. Her paperwork was often stained with the marks of her summons, something she still got flack for from Shizune.

She picked the slug up and set it on the ceramic plate sadly vacant of it's usual cup of sake. The Hokage grabbed the recently ruined scroll and tried to wipe off the snail residue with the corner of her sleeve. No good, that was just smearing the ink. She frowned at the now illegible text, hoping it wasn't anything _too_ important. Giving a quick read she realized it was just a formal invitation to the international peace gala. Tsunade had received this invitation at least 9 months ago and now, with it being only four short months away, she still hadn't send a RSVP..._that was it_!

At this gala all persons of importance were invited, including the Kage's of every village and their chosen guests. The only way this was possible was a strict understanding that village politics be left at the door and peace was to be maintained for one night. It was actually a rather grand way to settle differences among leaders, several wars had been avoided in the past due to it's timely occurrence. Then again there had been some minor skirmishes caused because of it too...but that was only if someone got overly drunk and embarrassed themselves.

She could officially invite Sakura and claim it as an attempt to return her to Konohagakure. Ninja who where recently given missing nin status where often extended such an invitation from their previous Kage's, even though most understandably did not take up the offer. However when the stray ninja _did_ show up it wasn't uncommon to negotiate conditions for acceptance back into the village.

In other words she could see and examine Sakura under a very believable guise. Who knows, the leaders from Wind would be there too, maybe they could have these assassination accusations repealed so her apprentice could return home.

Rather satisfied with her plan she called for Shizune. It was time to RSVP and send out her guest list.

(o)(o)(o)_Three months later _(o)(o)(o)

Sakura stretched her limbs, coming into consciousness and almost immediately knew something wasn't right.

The forest around her was deadly quiet, no chirping birds, humming insects or scampering squirrels. In fact the only thing she could detect was the overwhelming scent of blood.

She sat up, slow and cautious, only to see that there where bodies surrounding her.

Human bodies.

Sakura herself was completely naked, drenched in blood and nowhere near where she'd settled down to rest the night before

"Fuuuuuuuuuuck..." she hissed, only to find out that she also had an awful taste in her mouth. How...What the hell was happening to her? Where was she? Who where these people? Why did she...taste their blood?

This was all to much, she had to get away from here. Sprinting blindly forward Sakura allowed a few tears to escape. She simply couldn't do this on her own anymore, she need help. Over the grueling four months she'd spent in the forest completely isolated things had escalated. Every night she sleep walked, never knowing where she would wake up, which led to unbearable paranoia.

Not only was her mind failing but her body was deteriorating as well. Her back was no longer just irritated and bumpy, but sported eight protrusions, each about three inches in elongation. She had gradually discovered this as her shirt became increasingly difficult to put on or take off. No way was this some sort of allergic reaction to that tree Kisame had shoved her up against. The peace gala was still one month away but she couldn't wait any longer to see her shishou.

A sudden shriek of terror drew Sakura out of her thoughts. She stopped to assess the danger, eyes darting around wildly for it's source. There didn't seem to be anyone around except for a young female villager, out picking herbs as it would appear.

"I..I don't have anything! P-please don't kill me!" the girl begged.

Was she...did she think _Sakura_ was the danger?

Sakura suddenly realized that she'd come barreling out of the forest towards this unsuspecting villager with hair in chaos, butt naked, smeared with blood, and undoubtedly wild-eyed. In other words she probably looked like a rabid wild thing, very akin to a potential danger. Just as Sakura was going to give verbal assurance that she meant no harm the girl's eyes drifted behind her, then widened even further in absolute terror. There was a violent impact to Sakura's head and the world became shadowed.


	26. Body and Psyche

An indeterminable amount of time later Sakura violently woke to find herself entrapped in a giant chakra impenetrable web.

Next to a panicked girl screaming bloody murder...who was next to an egg sac that looked just about ready to hatch.

Sensing that they would both become fodder to the newly hatched spiderlings, Sakura began to struggle as well. However, just as before, the web was super strong and could not be severed by brute strength even when paired with her chakra enhancement.

Just how the hell was she going to get out of this one? Desperate, Sakura began to bite at the strands nearest her face. At first there was no signs of success, the web was just as hard to bite as it was to sever. Sakura was about ready to give up until she noticed that the web next to her head, where she had inadvertently drooled, had apparently _dissolved. _

"Are you kidding me? This stuff is tougher than kunai and chakra but easily soluble?!" Sakura shouted in outrage. "Hey! Spit on it! SPIT!" she directed the girl next to her, who still had enough sense to listen and begin doing as she was told.

The next few minutes where filled with desperate spitting and wriggling...it was horrible and gross. Truthfully, once she was free Sakura was going to attempt to repress the whole experience into the deepest depths of her subconsciousness.

"Hey it's not working!" the girl next to her screamed in desperation. Sakura looked over and saw that indeed the webbing surrounding the other was wet but not dissolved in the slightest. She had little time to contemplate this however because they both felt the web dip and bounce, a omen that the the one that had built it on it's way. Sakura had both arms free and was working on her legs when the enormous spider came into view.

The girl's screams got unbearably louder. Not that Sakura blamed her, it was heading right towards them with dripping fangs. Sakura still had one leg to go and the villager was just as stuck as before.

The spider conveniently decided to check on it's egg sac, which allowed Sakura enough time to free her last leg, before meandering the short distance further to their location. Sakura decided to 'play dead' instead of making a run for it because she knew outrunning this thing was not an option.

When it reached them the girl finally shut up as it's huge hairy legs brushed against her. At first Sakura was impressed at the other's control but soon realized it was only because she had fallen unconscious again, most likely fainting in fear.

Sakura had to hold very _very_ still as the spider repeated the process with her, and it was difficult. The hair on it's legs was surprisingly soft yet also a little wiry, akin to a doberman's coat. Sakura could make this comparison only because she had briefly petted one after healing an immobile patient at the Inuzuka compound. The prodding did not last long and soon the spider was on it's way, stepping completely over and moving beyond them.

Letting out the breath she had been holding in, Sakura turned to the girl who was still out cold. Why hadn't her web dissolved? Surely it was composed of the same materials because it came from the same creature. Could a spider spin two different types of web?What the hell was she doing contemplating such things now?! She should be getting the _fuck_ out of here! One final time she gathered as much spit as she could to create a hole next to her. Once her exit was created Sakura rolled to plummet strait down into the unknown.

Karma was going to get her back for abandoning that girl but she just couldn't worry about it right now. Her mouth was as dry as the desert, having struggled to produce that last bit of spit for her own freedom, so rescuing her was out of the question. Besides, any moment that enormous spider could come back. Yup. In these types of conditions shinobi were sadly trained that if a team was absent it was every man or woman for themselves.

(o)(o)(o)_Two days later_(o)(o)(o)

She had finally bade it to civilization. It was small and not far from the forest, but busy enough to be a legit town, not a settlement or village. It even had paved roads!

"Watch it you old hag!" a man in a cart yelled, swerving so as not to hit her. Sakura scrambled to get out of the road where she had been so dazedly standing.

"Are you OK Obaa-san? Let me help you cross the road." a young girl said, taking her hand. Sakura flinched at the unexpected contact. It would take her a while to get used to physical contact. Or even used to just the proximity of other people in general.

"Have a good day Obaa-san!" the little girl cheered, skipping down the street.

"I'm not old..." Sakura muttered grumpily as she continued her slow, half hunched over, walk.

She hadn't a single cent, only a stolen cloak which covered her naked body from head to toe.

First thing was first, she needed food to replenish her energy. Then she would seek new clothing that would accommodate the abnormal growth on her back, the reason she was walking hunched over.

Two streets over she was able to locate a produce shop that had a street display of easily snatch-able apples. She could tell they were discounted and not very good, in fact most of them were bruised. However when you're on the brink of starvation one tended not to be picky about a little bruised up fruit. Further down the street was a residential area where she was able to steal some clothes off a drying line. They where way out of fashion and seemed to belong to a woman three times her size, but perfect for shrouding her disfigured back.

Now all she had to do was simply survive three to four more weeks until the peace gala, where her shishou would help figure out what the hell was going on with her body and psyche.


	27. Gala

"Where the hell is she?!" Tsunade demanded, peering around the crowd in search of her missing apprentice. She had better not have gotten the address wrong or forgotten. Who was she kidding, that kid was probably late as ususal. Most likely Hatake's bad influence.

"I'm sure she'll show up Hokage-sama." Shizune soothed, petting Ton Ton. The pig could pick up on it's masters feelings and so was also quite agitated. Suddenly she squealed and jumped from Shizune's arms, running towards the door. Shizune cried out in alarm and gave chase, calling for Ton Ton to come back and throwing in a few choice curses when the pig continued to evade her. Gradually the commotion faded into the distance.

"What was that about?" said a female voice right next to Tsunade.

"What the hell!?" she exclaimed, turning to see her pink haired apprentice standing next to her. "How did you manage to sneak up on me?"

"I didn't mean to shishou, it's just that everyone was distracted by Shizune-sempai and Ton Ton." Sakura shrugged.

In fact now that the Hokage's first apprentice ceased to be of interest people had noticed Sakura's arrival. Some began to stare, others whispered while stealing glances at the pink haired girl. They were clearly expecting a show and it looked like they would get one, judging by who they saw quickly approaching.

"Oh no. Here comes the wind representatives." Tsunade groaned, straitening her posture into that befitting a noble Hokage. "Let me do all the talking. Don't. Say. Anything."

Sakura simply nodded.

"Hokage-sama, I am the temporary Daimyō Tsubasa, Hikosha and this is my advisory team Noriko, Yamata and Suhoshi. Greetings, to you, we hope your village is doing well, however we question why you have chosen to invite this _missing_ shinobi to a gathering which is meant to facilitate peace. As you know this particular shinobi has caused great trauma to our land and Wind is actively seeking justice via persecution." the average looking middle aged man demanded. Sakura could tell that not only was he from Wind, but he was full of it too, based on how much he spoke and how loudly. But then again that was probably because the room had gone completely silent. Everyone was looking at them.

"I am sorry to hear your land is experiencing difficulties. However I invited my former apprentice tonight in order to negotiate repentance terms and legal return to Konohagakure. You, as well as everyone in this room, knows that is within my rights as Hokage."

"If you are to discuss repentance terms it is also within our rights to be present, as the crime which led to her status was not against Konogakura but against Wind." the elderly woman, who had been introduced as Noriko, stated.

"I am glad to hear of your interest in the return of my apprentice however I am the Fire nation's Kage. The Daimyō may rule the lands, but the _Kage_ has complete rule over it's shinobi and hidden village. Therefore it is not necessary for you to be present during this meeting. I will discuss forgivable terms with my apprentice, including those towards Wind, and meet with you separately. It will have to occur after the peace gala, seeing as politics _between_ nations are not allowed." Tsunade finished firmly.

Sakura gaped at her shishou. They way Tsunade had weaved that whole rejection was so professional and political she had become stunned. Using the rule that politics between nations was prohibited, however politics within villages was allowed was genius of her! Honestly, even though she had been Tsunade-sama's apprentice for sometime now, she had never seen this side of her shishou. But it made sense that she be good at red tape and negotiating such things, all political leaders had to be adept in quick witted verbal banter.

Just then the Fire nation's own Daimyō, a thin elder man, wandered over with his..._corpulent_ wife Madam Shijimi. Madam Shijimi was the kind of person who was so pleasant and boisterous that she immediately gained everyone's undivided attention and praise. In fact, to attract even more attention it would seem, Madam Shijimi's abundant body was dressed in a canary yellow kimono with all sorts of things going on with her hair. The escapee demon cat named Tora, which haunted the mission duties of Konoha's gennin population, was unhappily squished to the woman's voluptuous chest.

"Hikosha-san! How pleasant to see you!" Madam Shijimi boomed, squishing her cat a little further as she lept into her customary hug fest. Each of his advisory members also received a hug, as well as Sakura and Tsunade.

This was so unusual and personal for a Daimyō wife, who was usually frigid, vain and soft spoken if not entirely silent, that the room erupted into laughter.

Madam Shijimi, not once thinking she was the source of the laughter, continued on with her greeting.

"Isn't this a lovely party?! Everyone is having such a fun time, this is great! But, oh I was so sorry to hear about Kenji-san. So sad he passed, my condolences, I'm truly sorry to hear he fell ill along with his wife. However, I hear you suspect some foul play is this true?"she inquired, eyes twinkling in hopes for some juicy gossip.

"Yes, we have a specific shinobi in mind..." the temporary Wind Daimyō said, swaying a little and clearly still trying to get his bearings back after the vigorous hug he had just received. "In fact she happens to be standing right next to you."

"Sakura-chan?! Oh no no! Sakura-chan is such a delicate, _feminine_, little flower! Why look at how _skinny_ she is, she doesn't look fit to hurt a fly! I also happen to know she is a _nice_ girl too! Brought my Tora _darling_ back to me so many times! It wasn't that not that long ago either, why she's practically still a _baby_!" Madam Shijimi insisted, jiggling about with enthusiasm. She gave Sakura a few "comforting" pats on the head which caused her to almost collapse.

"Honey, this type of conversation is not technically allowed here..." the soft spoken Fire Daimyō reminded his exuberant wife.

"Of course! Of course! Lets talk of something more _pleasant_ and perhaps have something to eat! Come Hikosha-san! They have a _wonderful_ spread of snacks just over here!" Madam Shijimi insisted, herding the Wind representatives away with her insistence they try the deserts first.

As the Fire Daimyō followed slightly behind he looked back over his shoulder to give them both a sneaky, conspired wink. All of a sudden Sakura understood that the Fire Daimyō had orchestrated the entire encounter to occurs just so, unknowingly to her, Tsunade, his wife and especially the Wind diplomats. What a sneaky man!

As they disappeared into the crowd all attention was shifted away from Tsunade and Sakura, allowing them to break into a previously locked private meeting room.


	28. Deal

"Alright lets start with the easy part. Take off your shirt." Tsunade demanded, pulling on some gloves she'd hidden away in her kimono.

Sakura turned away from her mentor and removed her baggy shirt carefully. She expected the sharp inhale Tsunade made.

"Good lord girl what have you got here?" the Hokage whispered, gently feeling along the skin at the edge of a protrusion. "It looks like you're growing _fingers_ out of your back!"

"What?!" Sakura shrieked, freaked out.

"Yes, but there are no joints or finger nails, just bone and flesh. Some of them are bigger than others too. When did you start noticing something was wrong?"

Sakura paused to think. She had been waiting in town for a month, alone in the forest close to four months..."Around five and a half months ago" she admitted.

"And the sleepwalking?"

"I noticed it a couple of weeks before Akatsuki first found me."

"What is this?!" Tsunade demanded, pointing to the middle of Sakura's back. There was a nondescript spot next to her student's spine.

"I can't really tell you shishou. I don't have eyes in the back of my head." Sakura joked, only to receive a slight cuff upside the aforementioned head.

"Don't get fresh! You have a _seal _here!" Tsunade scolded.

"Really?! What does it say?" she asked curiously but also kind of frightened.

"Nothing, it's just a dot infused with chakra. _Your_ chakra." her shishou accused.

"But I didn't put it there, I can't even reach!" Sakura protested.

"I know that brat, what I don't know is what it's for. Without a symbol I can't tell if it's a repressive seal or expressive seal. I can however tell that it is starting to weaken." Tsunade said, pulling away and removing her gloves.

"So basically the seal, which someone somehow manipulated my own chakra to place on me, could be triggering my symptoms?" Sakura asked, reaching for her shirt.

"Precisely. Or it was placed there in attempt to suppress them." Tsunade reminded her.

"I have a feeling it's the former situation. Someone must have placed it on me while I was sleepwalking." Sakura muttered, pulling her baggy shirt back on.

Just then the doors blew open and two people walked in.

"Ah Tusnade, so nice to see you." Orochimaru said, dodging the reflex thrown kunai to his head. The kunai in question stuck almost hilt deep in the wall behind him, quivering with residual momentum. "Now is that any way to treat your old team member? Especially when I'm about to do you a a huge favor?"

"Forget about me, you can do the _world_ a favor by dropping dead." Tsunade hissed, fingering another kunai.

"On with my proposition...I'm willing to extend protection to your apprentice as long as she assists my main medic in his research." Orochimaru said, nodding towards the silent Kabuto at his side. "Of course she won't actually have to participate in anything, purely the clerical kind of research. In return she will be given her own room at my compound, which will obviously remain unknown, and protected from Akatsuki's grasp. Now I think that sounds rather generous of me, don't you?"

"You're bat shit crazy if you think I'll just hand over my apprentice to you. Clerical work? Ha! You'll pull her apart body and mind to discover any secrets she holds about Konoha. Forget it!" Tsunade scoffed, knowing her ex teammate well enough to tell when he was lying.

"I have no interest in using her for experimentation. Yes I will hide her away, but that is for everyone's benefit when it comes to Akatsuki. If you are truly worried about safety I can arrange for her to send you an untraceable monthly message."

"Make it chakra infused, any idiot can copy handwriting." Tsunade demanded.

"What?!" Sakura gasped, "You can't be serious shish-"

"Quiet! He's the lesser of two evils here. Your main medic you said?" Tsunade asked.

"He is, of course, not up to your caliber but Kabuto's medic skills are nothing to scoff at." Orochimaru said, trying to butter Tsunade up a little.

"Cut the flattery. I want something else in return for her services. In addition to protection from Akatsuki your main medic will study what ails my apprentice. This information will remain confidential between her, your medic and I, under protection from a seal of silence."

"You will not place a seal of silence on my medic. It can be manipulated to an unacceptable extent. I counter propose a blood contract on a sealant scroll. It's contents known between only the three of you and violation results in death."

"As long as I retain the original contract and yours is the copy." Tsunade finalized the deal.

Sakura felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, what had she just gotten into...


	29. Woman in Red

Sakura spent the rest of the night sulking in a corner, unable to leave the party early per her Hokage's orders. The Wind diplomats occupied the farthest space from her, never ceasing their livid glares.

_Pfft like she cared._ Well...she kinda did, but wasn't going to let them know that.

She watched Orochimaru and Kabuto circle the room like a pair of predators, going for gullible prey who would believe their lies and promises. Sakura didn't like how they operated and she _especially_ did not like that she would be seen leaving the gala with them. No way would that help clear her name, what was her shishou thinking?

"Pay attention kunoichi, or anyone could just sneak up on you." a voice whispered directly in her ear.

Sakura jumped and turned to look at the person who was currently invading her personal space. It was a woman about her age, maybe a little older, with long black hair and eyes. Her features where petite and exotic. She wore a long red dress, silk it would appear, that draped around her slender figure and a smile that put Sakura on edge.

"Um...who are you?"

"Who I am is not as important as what I'm going to offer you. I understand you're looking for something. I should be able to help you with that."

"No. You must be mistaken. I'm not looking for anything, sorry." Sakura replied, turning away. She felt uneasy that, even at this level of closeness, she hadn't detected the woman's approach. It seemed she had no chakra signature and that rubbed Sakura the wrong way.

"Are you sure? I thought you might be looking for an antidote to a certain poison." it was a sly offer.

Sakura's head snapped back towards the woman. "Are you saying you have the antidote?" she asked.

"Not the antidote per say, more like the knowledge you need to figure one out."

"And what's in it for you?" Sakura questioned, suspicious of this unknown woman's intentions.

"Nothing really, except maybe your friendship. I'm a healer as well you see. Speaking of healing, I can tell that your back is ailing you. Have you tried rubbing digestive fluids on your legs?"

"What are you talking about? What could that possibly-WAIT!" she reached out too late, the woman was gone. In the split second before the woman beat her hasty retreat her eyes had widened at something behind Sakura. A moment later she found out who it was that had made the woman flee so suddenly.

"Ready to go chibi Tsunade?" the snake sannin asked. Tsunade began to approach as well, no doubt to impart some last advice before her apprentice took off.

"Sakura in your spare time I want you to continue to work on that antidote now that you'll have access to a medical facility. Include all progress in your monthly updates to me so I can pass them onto Shizune and the rest of the hospital team. Understood?"

"Yes Tsunade-shishou." Sakura replied dully, desperately wishing they were alone so she could tell her shishou about the mysterious woman who had just offered her knowledge regarding the antidote.

"Don't let your guard down for a minute while you're there. This situation may be the lesser of two evils but they are still our enemy." she said, shooting a glare to her old teammate. "Also I'm sure Naruto would want you to try and talk some sense into the younger Uchiha."

Sakura was startled by that last request. How had it slipped her mind that while staying with Orochimaru she might encounter Sasuke?!

"This arrangement seems kind of boring don't you think?" Kabuto said nonchalantly, as if he was setting out bait. Sakura felt her stomach sink once again. Her shishou could _not_ resist a bet...

"Too true Kabuto, how about we spice it up a bit, raise the stakes?" Orochimaru offered, turning to Tsunade. "I bet my medic can find out what ails your apprentice and cure her before she finds an antidote. If I win then I get to keep her, if you win I'll give you back both her and the Uchiha."

"It's a bet!" Tsunade instantly agreed.

"W-what?! B-but Tsunade-shishou! What if I-"

"I trained you didn't I? Your skills far surpass this second rate of a medic nin. This should be an easy bet to win." she said, briefly signing her name on an agreement scroll Kabuto just so _happened_ to have already written up.

Sakura stood gape mouthed, her Hokage had just bet her life away as if it where nothing. Did she even realize that the whole bet was pre-planned? Who's to say that they didn't' already know what was wrong with her?

She tried to intervene by speaking up "Don't I get a say-"

"Come along then, we have a long journey and I'd like to reach the nearest village with a inn before sunset." Orochimaru ushered her towards the door. Sakura dodged his hands, obliging only because she didn't want him to actually touch her.

"Tsunade-shishou!" she cried in alarm, her figure growing smaller as distance was increased between them.

"Remember what I taught you. Trust in your abilities Sakura, you can do this." were her mentor's last words before the door closed, severing their conversation.

"Don't worry so much Sakura-san, we'll take great care of you. You're going to _love_ it in Otogakure. Plus you get to be reunited with Sasuke-kun, won't that be fun?" Kabuto reminded her.

_Fun?_...fun was not the first word we would have chosen. Feeling physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted Sakura followed after Kabuto. Deep in her thoughts she wondered...Just who was that woman in red?


	30. Bit Too Creepy

"This will be your room from now on." Kabuto said, unlocking a door and showing Sakura a moderately sized space. It had all the bare necessities one could think of.

"The labs? Where are they located?" Sakura asked, cautiously walking into the room. She sat on the edge of the bed, testing it's firmness.

"They are rather far unfortunately. These are the sleeping quarters and the lab is several levels lower. We've traveled hard today so I'll show you tomorrow. The communal bathroom is three doors down on your left. I would suggest keeping your toiletries in here though, we have a couple unknown sneak thieves." Kabuto chuckles. "I can't tell you how many hair ties I've lost."

Sakura smirked over the mental image of Orochimaru coveting a pile of stolen bath goodies or, on the other hand, interrogating the entire base on who had stolen his conditioner. Pursing her lips it was all Sakura could do not to start laughing. Due to her mirth she almost missed what Kabuto said next.

"I'll be locking the door behind me, goodnight."

"What? Why are you locking me in? I'm not a prisoner!"

"Safety, Sakura. Orochimaru employs many skilled but morally questionable nin. I also hear you have a tendency to walk off while asleep. While that might have not been a problem before I assure you it could be extremely detrimental here. After all, the base has restricted sections that are rigged with booby traps to discourage intruders or spies."

"How did you know about my sleep walking? I never told you that." Sakura mumbled, pissed he already knew one of the major things wrong with her. _Not_ a good start to the standing bet.

"It's not so mysterious, I merely overhead your conversation with the Hokage." Kabuto pushed his glasses up with one finger, grinning smugly. "I suggest you rest now, tomorrow will be a big day." That being said he shut the door with a click and tumble of the lock.

_Great. I wonder who else overheard our conversation. _

Now it made sense how that unusual woman had known about her back problems. Still, who was she? Where had she gone? What was with that bizarre piece of advice she had given? Rub digestive fluids on her legs? What did that mean exactly? Was she supposed to _vomit_ then give herself a massage with the upturned results?

_Ew. No. Just no._ Whatever kind of healer that woman claimed must be of the whack-job variety.

It was a good thing she didn't have to go to the bathroom but where was she supposed to brush her teeth? Hating that Kabuto had locked her in for the night before she'd had the chance to brush Sakura got to changing into her pajamas. Pulling at her shirt she caught a glimpse of herself in the full length mirror across the room next to the wardrobe. Tentatively walking closer she took a look at herself. This was the first mirror she had gazed into in months, and while Sakura was not vain in any sense, seeing herself so ragged was disheartening. It also frightened Sakura to look upon what her back had become, but look she would, now that she was finally presented with the opportunity.

Even though Sakura had turned slowly it was still a shock to see her own misshapen form. The entirety of her back was flaking and pitted, the skin at the base of the protrusions was cracked deep enough to bleed. The different sized growths themselves where twisted and black, a departure from the rest of her peach colored skin. This was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise. If they were made of flesh shouldn't they be the same color as the rest of her skin?

Disgusted with the sight Sakura pulled on an over-sized shirt that went past her knees.

_There. Much better._

"_**You are a freak" **_her inner whispered.

"You mean WE are a freak." she replied out loud. _And a crazy person for talking to ourselves_ she mentally added.

Kami, there was so much wrong with her.

It could all wait one more day she decided, flopping onto the bed face first. Getting under the covers was too much effort, so there she lay until sleep eventually quieted her mind.

~(o)(o)(o)~Elsewhere in the base~(o)(o)(o)~

The door to Orochimaru's private quarters opened after a brief knock. The sannin did not stop in his efforts to disrobe and prepare for bed. He barely even acknowledged the one who entered, having known who it would be even before his arrival.

"You called for me Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto made sure to remember to close the door for privacy. While Orochimaru's bare form did not bother him it wouldn't be the first time some unlucky hall goer received a shock. It was too bad Orochimaru hadn't found the situation as humorous as Kabuto did.

"Is our new resident tucked in?" the snake summoner asked, pulling back the sheets.

"Locked in and already sleeping." Kabuto confirmed.

"You will begin monitoring her tonight. Install cameras in secret if you must. I want you to invest all your efforts into this project. It's vital that we acquisition her. Akatsuki wants her and so she must be valuable in some way. I want to know _how_ valuable."

"Yes sir. Anything else?"

"Team Taka returns in four days. Acquaint them, so they know not to bring her any harm, but do not allow her to reside in their presence for too long. The last thing I need is for some silly little girl to turn Sasuke's head from our goal." Orochimaru settled in amongst the mass of pillows and closed his eyes. "That would be just my luck wouldn't it Kabuto?"

Recognizing the dismissal the medic bowed and exited. Looks like he was in for a long night watch, not that he minded watching pretty girls sleep...OK that thought was a bit too creepy even for him.


	31. Predicament

Sakura was not in any way expecting a warm welcome from Sasuke. The way she had made a nuisance of her affections towards him in their younger days, and the way Sasuke had responded, was enough to clarify that he considered her nothing more than an annoying hindrance.

"Hn. Just don't get in my way." With that being said he had breezed right past her, air of indifference never stronger.

The rest of the team was not much better.

The silver haired mist nin known as Suigetsu complemented Sakura on her hydrated skin, practically swooning over how beautiful it would look sliced open...

The tall man introduced as Jūgo merely nodded at her.

Finally, the only other female she'd thus far encountered, Karin had welcomed her by saying "Stay away from Sasuke-kun if you know whats good for you" before storming off after him.

"Don't mind them, they're all a little damaged." Kabuto informed her "It's practically a requirement in order to work for Orochimaru-sama."

What. The. Hell.

Later that day Kabuto had shown her the labs, which where surprisingly better than the ones she was used to back in Konoha.

"How did you obtain all your equipment?" she asked, reverently stroking a rotary evaporator that just so happened to be the newest model.

"That's classified information I'm afraid. However I will say that, as missing nin, we do not have to argue with crotchety elders who refuse to allocate an appropriate budget towards research endeavors." Kabuto smirked.

Sakura groaned, knowing _just_ how crotchety the Konoha elders could be about such things. Those meetings had been one of the very first things Tsunade had foisted onto Sakura during her apprenticeship. Her reasoning was that it would _definitely_ teach her how to diplomatically sway an audience. Sakura knew it was more along the lines that Tsunade was dangerously close to bashing in some stubborn council member's heads.

"This will be your desk." she heard Kabuto say, and turned to see him standing next to said piece of furniture.

"Wow. I get my own desk? How generous of you." She may or may not have inserted a little sarcasm into that statement.

Kabuto's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Come on, I'll show you where we keep the supplies."

She was given notebooks, writing utensils, an audio recorder and a few other things needed to conduct research. It felt like this was her first day of school, though a little more sinister since their next stop was the morgue.

"You need to check your ventilation system." Sakura informed him, wrinkling her nose. "Smells a bit in here. Either that or you're not keeping them cold enough."

"I've noticed that too. Though, with it being a secret base and all, it's practically impossible to hire an outside professional to take a look at it. I may be good with medical subjects but architecture and electrical are not my forte." Kabuto chuckled.

"My Dad was always good at those kind of things. Though one time he tried to use the tip of a kunai to screw in a light fixture and got electrocuted." she said without thinking, grinning at the memory. Sakura followed Kabuto out of the morgue and down a hallway.

"Oh really?" Kabuto sounded interested. "He a shinobi like you?"

"Oh yeah, my Mom too." she replied.

"Interesting. For some reason I assumed you came from a civilian family." Kabuto admitted.

"What? Why would you think that?" Sakura asked.

"I've never heard of a "Haruno" clan, that's all. Konoha is very clan driven, I'm sure you've noticed. Not many shinobi make it who haven't been bred and raised by a clan. Think about it, the Inuzuka, Aburame, Yamanaka, Hyuuga, Nara, and at one time the Uchiha, all produce Konoha's main supply of shinobi. Clan decedents account for about 95% of the force, wouldn't you agree? "

"Yeah, but are you saying Konoha discriminates against non clan families and intentionally makes it harder for them to become shinobi?" Sakura asked, frowning a little bit at what he was implying.

"I don't know enough about Konoha politics to make such a claim but I have heard of it being done in other hidden villages. Simplifies things such as standards and testing I would guess. However, in my opinion, it's also a huge disadvantage. If all your shinobi have the same strengths and weaknesses due to a kekkei genkai that would make them easily defeatable, even in large numbers. All it would take is the right foe."

Sakura nodded, seeing the logic in this. She had never really thought about other hidden villages and what their processes of shinobi recruitment entailed. This was an interesting topic she might like to look into in her spare time.

"I'm so glad you've come to Otogakure even it it wasn't completely your decision. For a long time now I've been starved for some intelligent conversationalism. It gets lonely being the only medic around."

"Glad you find me so entertaining." Sakura scoffed. "Where are we going now?"

"I'm going to show you the kitchens and training grounds, then I must take my leave for the rest of the day. I'm still trying to piece together my new schedule. With you here I'll need to delegate some of my other responsibilities so I can work on solving those ailments of yours."

"Am I being given preferential treatment regarding your time?" Sakura asked slyly.

"You might not want to tease me about that Sakura. It only increases the chances of you staying here permanently."

Oh Kami, he was right. It was in Sakura's best interest to disclose all her symptoms so he could find out and fix what was wrong with her, however doing so would screw her over if he found a cure before she created an antidote. On the other hand withholding information regarding her issues would increase her chances of winning this bet...but would also prolong her own suffering.

"What to do, what to do...Poor little Sakura-chan is in quite a predicament!" Kabuto sing songed.

"Oh shut up." she ordered, aggressively bumping shoulders with him. Kabuto gave her another amused smirk, pushing his glasses back up his nose from where they'd slipped due to her physical reprimand.


End file.
